Episode 39 - Blood from a Stone

[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the All Night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queens Court Games. Well, there are worse things to find at the end of a tunnel. Not many, but whatever your experience is with the gargoyle, because that is a gargoyle, it has to be tempered at least by the knowledge that presumed knowledge that Jason Newberry is very nearly within your reach. Ivy, you recognize gargoyles for what they are. After all, it is your clan's refusal to adhere to the rules of the camarilla that led to their creation. [00:01:09] Speaker B: Excuse you. [00:01:11] Speaker A: They got one. No, not one rule. Many rules. And you've broken all of them. But one of the ones that was broken was no more gargoyles. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Okay, look, gargoyles. Yes, we did make them. Doesn't mean that we're still making them. And this could very easily be one of the old ones. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Oh, it certainly is. You can tell by the size and the design. In fact, I'm sure once this scene unfolds, you'll have a chance to explain where this gargoyle came from. Specifically, Maya and Calamity. Less certain where you would have encountered gargoyles in the stone flesh. But you've both been around long enough to know that they exist and be able to notice one when you see one. Is that right? [00:02:02] Speaker C: They're kind of hard to miss. [00:02:05] Speaker D: Does it have to be made of stone to call it a gargoyle? [00:02:10] Speaker A: Question for Ivy. Maybe you can add that to the conversation that happens after we resolve this newberry situation. [00:02:19] Speaker D: Well, if it has to be made of stone, then no, I've never seen a gargoyle. [00:02:28] Speaker C: There is rumor about one outside Nashville, but I've never actually seen one up close. Holy shit. It's huge. [00:02:40] Speaker A: This one is in a specially superlative specimen. Alex, you've never seen a gargoyle in person? There was that cartoon show, Keith David. I'm sure you're a fan. [00:02:53] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, big time. Like, the leader of the group was such a boss, and if I'm being honest, his girlfriend kind of awoken something in young Alex. [00:03:08] Speaker A: I 100% believe that. I think that is an experience more universal than you might think up front, but that frames the scene. The door is open. You walk into this room. It is maybe 15ft long, seven to 10ft wide, tall enough that a 14 foot tall gargoyle can stand up in it without bonking its head. This is, again, speaking in terms of things Alex understands. There's that level in multiple video games where there's a wall that pushes down a narrow tunnel. Or in the Indiana Jones movie, there's always the boulder, and it fills up the entire passageway. There's not a whole lot of room on either side of it. So we can replace tunnel with purpose built newberry containment chamber and boulder with gargoyle. And then we'll get into the scene as it unfolds in all of its glory and then just stares at you. No words, no motions. It takes its perch like a sentinel at the foot of the sarcophagus and waits. [00:04:22] Speaker C: Abby. [00:04:25] Speaker B: Al. [00:04:28] Speaker C: Is that what I think it is? [00:04:32] Speaker B: It depends if you think that's gargoyle or not. [00:04:38] Speaker C: No, I'm pretty sure that is what that is. I've never actually seen one and I know that's more your wheelhouse than anything else. [00:04:48] Speaker B: Oh, yes. No, this is. [00:04:52] Speaker A: That lecture. Knowing what I know about Ivy will probably take a few moments, so let me pause to look to Alex and to Maya. Maya Newberry is here. I refuse to believe there's some part of you that is suddenly now going to develop a discretion gland or a restraint bone. And Alex. You're you. There's a creature threatening you. There's two there's one in the box and there's one in front of you. So what the two of you do while Calamity and Ivy engage in what I presume will be a lengthy retelling of the Gargoyle creation myth well, in. [00:05:36] Speaker E: My head, I'm seeing the person whose brain I want to turn into a smashed pumpkin. Jason Newberry in a box. It's basically like a Christmas gift. And over here, I'm seeing the thing that's in my way from getting my job done. I don't know nothing about no gargoyle, but I know that I can break rocks. So guess what, nerd knuckle up, buttercup, because I'm about to crush your face like a Chicago quarry. They don't have quarries in Chicago. You know what I meant. [00:06:10] Speaker A: I like this visually because Ivy and Calamity are speaking to each other. And then Alex sprints. Between the two of you launching himself at the Gargoyle. Is that the action you want to take, Alex? [00:06:25] Speaker E: Yes. But I think it is very important to note that I will be shouting a stupid battle cry. So I'm going to charge this big creature. My muscles engage, my fists ready? As I shout, hey, Gargoyle, time to rock and roll. And I tackle him. [00:06:48] Speaker A: Tackle is a verb I want to put an asterisk on for just a moment, at least until we resolve the role here. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you're using the full spectrum of vampiric abilities available to you. Right? [00:07:07] Speaker E: 100%. I am activating potency as much as I got. I am going to be doing the strength and the athletics that a bruja alley cat like myself am blessed with at this time. [00:07:22] Speaker A: All right. Lethal bodies free, which will allow your unarmed attacks to do an extra little bit of damage. Prowess will require a rouse check. [00:07:34] Speaker E: Rolling. That rouse zero success. [00:07:41] Speaker A: The beast knows something you don't, but it's not going to have time to explain it as you launch yourself forward. Let's do it. Alex Scott strength and brawl. [00:07:54] Speaker E: So I think I deserve, after the absolute humiliation that was the Garo fight and still wearing that mantle of my failure, somewhere in my subconscious, I've rolled eight successes. [00:08:12] Speaker A: And a critical to boot. I like this narratively because one of the other powers Alex has is uncanny grip, which allows you to scale vertical surfaces to hang on to ceilings. You have mastered the art of holding on to the barbell, even in moments of muscle crisis, and transitioned that into your new vampiric life. So whatever your thoughts, Ivy and Calamity, alex scales this Gargoyle like a mountain. He is. Edmund hillary. This Gargoyle is his Everest, and Alex is going to plant his damn flag on the top. Put a pin in that while we figure out what Maya's getting up to. [00:09:01] Speaker D: I like nothing more than a good distraction when I have a plan, because then I don't have to be responsible for it. It's almost like I accounted for the fact that Alex is going to go absolutely brouha on this and jump on the biggest thing in the room. I'm going to use this time to see if I can squeeze past the chaos and get straight to the real target. Jason fucking Newberry. [00:09:30] Speaker A: Right on time. The rule that you are going to look for is dexterity and stealth. Dexterity to avoid the mountain climbing expedition happening in the center of the room and stealth to avoid being noticed mostly by the Gargoyle, but a little bit also Ivy and Calamity. [00:09:51] Speaker D: All right, that did not work. I'm going to willpower reroll all of those. [00:10:00] Speaker A: Zero. Success is not the target. You were going for one. [00:10:04] Speaker D: Success is not better. [00:10:07] Speaker A: It's not great. I will let you choose which of the components of this role is the result of your failure. Is it that you were not dexterous, or is it that you were not stealthy? [00:10:21] Speaker D: I think because Ivy probably has a guess as to what I'm down here for, she and Cal would notice me making a beeline for the coffin. [00:10:35] Speaker A: Ivy and Cal not the one I'm the most worried about right now in terms of people who notice you, but we will get there. [00:10:42] Speaker D: Oh, for sure. I don't want to get beamed in the face by the Gargoyle. Perhaps I'm not the most subtle when it comes to running straight for my quarry. Pun not intended. [00:10:58] Speaker A: Well, there you have it. Everyone in the room knows what Maya is up to, but at least she manages enough nimble footwork to make it around the Gargoyle towards the Sarcophagus. We're in a combat situation, so we're going in little five second blocks. I'm going to give the Gargoyle its turn and then go to Calamity and Ivy, if that's okay with you. The problem for Alex is that you are strong. It is stronger. You can brawl it brawls harder. You have potence. It has more. Our Gargoyle friend is going to activate its prowess, which brings its pool to 15 dice. On top of that, Alex is going to learn intimately about one of the most powerful uses of potence. But let's get that dice roll out of the way first. The Gargoyle ties you with eight successes. That means it's not able to rip you away like a tiny bur stuck on a piece of clothing. And when it realizes that, it moves into stage two. If I can't get you off of me, let's just go where we're going together. So you spin with this creature as it reaches around itself, trying to peel you off. You're scampering over the top, your claws sinking into the stone. You arrive on its back, and that is when it just curls itself backwards into the wall. And that is when you meet the power of Earth shock. At potence five, vampire strength becomes an elemental force. And in this case, when Alex is smashed against the sidewall, you immediately see the room fill up with that concrete dust. You can hear the clatter of individual pieces of masonry splattering amongst the floor. But more than that, you can feel Calamity, Maya and Ivy, the ground shake underneath you to the point where, Alex, you're not going to take any damage, aside from the one for losing this contest. But I do need the other three of you to make a dexterity and athletics check. [00:13:22] Speaker B: I am completely caught off guard by this. Was not expecting it to go this way. That is zero successes. [00:13:31] Speaker C: Equally caught off guard, but, well, cats usually land on their feet. That's three successes. [00:13:37] Speaker D: Four successes. [00:13:40] Speaker A: Ivy, unfortunately, you have failed. You fall prone. If anyone wondered what it looked like the second time, Ivy was racing track and did not get her leg high enough above the hurdle, you can put this in your memory palace and have that forever. Calamity, with three successes. You'll lose your current action while you spend your turn stabilizing yourself so you don't join Ivy in floor time. Maya, you have a critical win. There is no penalty. You proceed right according to plan, with Calamity and Ivy rendered properly shook. That leaves Alex, Maya and the Gargoyle left to take an action in the next turn. So, Alex, now that you've been made one with the wall, is my grip. [00:14:38] Speaker E: On the gargoyle still ironclad? [00:14:43] Speaker A: Yes. I'm giving you the benefit of your uncanny grip skill, and because you tied that test, there wasn't a huge margin of failure. I will say that you remain as firmly attached as you desire. [00:14:53] Speaker E: I don't know a lot about vampire life. I have been told some things, but there's still a lot of things that I don't know, like what this creature is. I know it's a gargoyle. In my brain, when I hear gargoyles, I think creatures made of stone. So I don't think choking it is going to be a good idea. [00:15:12] Speaker A: But. [00:15:13] Speaker E: I'm right at the back of its head. I can probably shatter stone with my bare hands, so I'm just going to pull my hand back as hard as I can and try to put it through the back of its head until I'm waving at Ivy from the other side. [00:15:30] Speaker A: A noble endeavor. I'm reminded of there was a gentleman in India who was tired of having to walk around a mountain to go to town to get medicine. So he spent about 30 years of his life digging a path through a more direct route. I don't imagine Alex knows that story, but the parallels are there. Very well, then. It is a strength and brawl from you. Your prowess stays active for the entire scene, so there's no need to rouse. Check again and you will still get your brawling bonus. [00:16:05] Speaker E: Well, this might not be good. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Three successes for its sake, it's going to defend not with its dexterity and brawl, because it's really just trying to endure you that makes its pool brawl and stamina. It is also using its fortitude. Well, I regret to say it manages seven successes against you even before accounting for its fortitude. You are wailing away at this stony outcropping, and you're getting nowhere once that grip of yours begins to fade. I mean, yeah, Alex, you've thrown construction equipment in the past. You are as strong as any strong person can be, and there's nothing happening. You might as well just be flicking your finger into drywall. Except even then, eventually you'd put a dent in it, right? As far as you can tell, the gargoyle barely registers the presence of your assault, let alone takes damage from it that will allow it to turn its attention to Maya. But I'd like to know what Maya is doing first. [00:17:22] Speaker D: We're here. We know what we're here for. What's the configuration of the box? Is there a lock on it? [00:17:31] Speaker A: The situation is very night at the museum. It is very Indiana Jones. There is a wooden shipping crate. It is approximately normal human sized. It is nailed shut. [00:17:42] Speaker D: I don't have time to scrabble at nails or stupid planks of wood. I'll rouse and use touch of oblivion. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Skip past the hard part and go straight to the bit where you can just destroy organic matter. [00:17:57] Speaker D: I get a little hungrier, but that's perfect for what I have planned. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Under your touch, the wooden fibers wither away. If you had a slow motion camera, you would be able to see that extremely rapid atrophy watching it decay in real time. The power of the void is the power of entropy, of decay, of death. And on a molecular level, that's what's happening as you reach out and grab this container. Of course, it happens entirely too fast for you to recognize that and thankfully, also for Ivy to recognize that, because we'd hate to have a scene where there are two lectures about the nature of the universe. Within a few seconds, you've managed to loosen the top to wrench your way into this container. And sure enough, Jason Newberry laying before you paler than the last time you saw him. Even paler than the last time you saw him. He is dressed immaculately, apparently having been given the opportunity to dress up a bit. If there's a mortician amongst the court, they've done their best to allow him to lay in repose with a little bit of dignity. [00:19:07] Speaker D: More than he deserves. [00:19:09] Speaker A: The bottom of the container is pillowed. It's a bit like a coffin on the inside, disguised as it were externally. [00:19:19] Speaker D: Well, it's nice that it's so many nice things for him before he was staked. Oh, I would like to take a big old bite. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Going to lean in and attempt to slake your thirst on the Malkavian Primigen? [00:19:39] Speaker D: Hell yes. Ask me again. [00:19:42] Speaker A: You're going to take the opportunity to lean in and slake your thirst on the Malkavian Primigen? [00:19:47] Speaker D: Absolutely. [00:19:52] Speaker A: I take it this is not an ordinary drink you're attempting? [00:19:58] Speaker D: Yes, absolutely. I am going to diabolize Jason fucking. [00:20:02] Speaker A: Newberry or attempt to do so anyway. The mechanics for Diablo are simple and straightforward. Unfortunately, they require a strength and resolve test from you. [00:20:24] Speaker D: Okay, I can do that. I can do strength and resolve. Two successes. [00:20:32] Speaker A: The difficulty for Diablo rolls is three. Unfortunately, you don't have to stop your attempt. It just means you don't make progress this turn. [00:20:43] Speaker D: I'm going to keep going until I pass. [00:20:46] Speaker A: We'll see about that. We return to the Gargoyle then. Now, it was important earlier that Maya said that she was dexterous and not stealthy, which means our Gargoyle guardian friend knows very well what she is about to do. The Gargoyle is going to use two attacks this turn. It's going to split its dice between Alex and Maya. One for Alex, 14 for Maya. That's one success to attack Alex. Seems the creature had tempered its rage earlier. It rolls twelve successes against Maya. Also a critical hit. You're both entitled to defend against this attack. It'll be dexterity and athletics for both of you. [00:21:30] Speaker D: I'm going to need you to sound a lot less cheerful storyteller. Two successes. [00:21:37] Speaker A: That is some ugly math. Alex, how about you? [00:21:41] Speaker E: Five successes. [00:21:44] Speaker A: Well, Alex, you will take no damage, but that's okay because there is plenty coming Maya's way before I get there, though. Calamity, apropos of nothing, will you make a dexterity and athletics check for me? [00:21:58] Speaker C: I think it might be prudent to add a little bit of prowess to that storyteller. Just apropos nothing. [00:22:07] Speaker A: I agree. [00:22:11] Speaker C: It's a rouse check. Correct. Well, that's a rousing success. [00:22:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Self preservation is big on the beast list of things to do. You're going to understand why that worked here in a second. [00:22:26] Speaker C: And that is aroused. Well spent. That is nine successes with a critical. [00:22:32] Speaker A: Yeah, good news for you. Less so for Maya, because that represents your ability to get the fuck out of the way. As the Gargoyle plucks Maya up like a lawn dart and javelins her towards the entrance of the room. Ivy, you don't have to roll because you're still on the floor, but from your perch, you can see rapid footwork on Calamity's end and then a shadowy blur, like a comet shrieking through the sky or like a moat of dust that floats through the wind rarely with this kind of speed. The good news is that neither Calamity, nor Ivy nor Alex take any damage. The bad news is that Maya takes a heap of it. Ordinary math says that you subtract the number of successes of the defense roll from the number of successes of the attack roll. Maya's two defense against twelve attack means you will take ten superficial damage. Half of it as you hit the metal door to the chamber and the other half as you and the door go sprawling, tumbling, scraping across the tunnel surface outside of the room. So how about we say you take half of that damage on the door, you can heal in between that impact and the second one and hungrier. [00:24:08] Speaker D: This is fine. [00:24:10] Speaker A: Good news is you heal the damage regardless of whether you succeed or fail on the rouse check. So you do get hungrier, but you don't get debtor. Rings the bell pretty hard by my math. You come away from that with three aggravated and two superficial damage. What is going on in that beautiful trickle down economics brain of yours? [00:24:35] Speaker D: One word. One syllable. Fuck. I don't I don't think I'm going to be able to try that again. [00:24:51] Speaker A: Never say never. [00:24:53] Speaker D: I don't think I get a choice not to. [00:24:59] Speaker A: I expect that means we will see Maya stonking her way back into the room, or what remains of it, after Alex and the Gargoyle take another turn. [00:25:09] Speaker D: I just need Alex to keep the Gargoyle busy. [00:25:13] Speaker A: Ivy, you're back on your feet. You don't get a full action this turn, but you can yell an expletive if you'd like. [00:25:22] Speaker B: Alex, get the fuck off the Gargoyle. [00:25:25] Speaker E: No, I think I got him on the ropes. Give me two more rounds. I think I can take this thing. [00:25:33] Speaker A: It's really important that everyone understand that as Alex is delivering that line, you're getting the Doppler effect as it spins around. So the volume and the pitch are changing as he goes wall to wall with this mountain of stone. [00:25:47] Speaker E: I know it looks bad, but don't worry. Every hero comes back from a defeat. I got this. [00:25:56] Speaker A: And Calamity, what is going through your mind as the situation has started to resemble your namesake? [00:26:07] Speaker C: There's always a part of me that wondered if my mama had some kind of sick sense of humor, naming me what she named me because this shit follows me wherever I go. There's a half second of panic because it looks like the room is coming down. And with what I just experienced this evening, well, doesn't feel it's. It has taken everything in me not to turn and sprint. But that fear quickly turns to anger as I hear Alex fucking Scott screaming his goddamn hero creed. But I think my fear turns to anger and what comes out of my mouth is a yell, something along the lines of, boy, if you don't get your ass down here. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Well, whether or not Alex intends to follow those instructions, he might have help from a friend in that matter. But, Mr. Scott, your life, your rules. What's going on in Gargoyleville? [00:27:16] Speaker E: So I'm feeling a bit confused because so far, this fight is mean. It's going about Alex. Well, and I think that that's seems everyone seems to be mad at me, so I guess I'm going to let go and regroup. I get it. No, I know what we're going to do. It's just like in the comic book of the Mutant Men, when the team has to reconfigure to fight the sentries. So I'm just going to let go, regroup, and we'll come up with a plan that's going to put this ugly motherfucker in the dirt. So I let go. [00:28:01] Speaker A: A decision which redounds to your benefit, because as you release your grip, the Gargoyle makes no further action to pursue you. Once the creature is no longer threatened, either by Alex or by Maya, it returns to its post at the foot of the sarcophagus. [00:28:25] Speaker E: Okay, these things have a brain, right? They're not like robots or some kind of super machine. [00:28:36] Speaker D: It's a kind of Tremere pet. [00:28:39] Speaker B: I start dusting myself off before I stand up without looking at Maya, and I just say I feel a very strong need to clarify that Gargoyles are not tramir pets. They are free thinking individual creatures. [00:29:00] Speaker E: Oh, okay. [00:29:02] Speaker A: All right. [00:29:06] Speaker E: So this thing's a free thinking creature. Then what is it doing? Paying more attention to Jason fucking Newberry than, like, is it trying to guard it or. [00:29:19] Speaker C: Think? I think so. That's what it looks like. [00:29:24] Speaker B: I stand up and finish dusting myself off and kind of ignore the conversation that's happening around me at this point. And I'm going to go talk directly to the Gargoyle. [00:29:37] Speaker A: What do you say? [00:29:39] Speaker B: Hello, I'm Ivy LaRue of Clan and house tramir. I don't think we've been introduced. [00:29:47] Speaker A: The voice that rumbles out of this creature is the deepest bass words wrought from the sound when you drag rock over rock. If you've ever parked on a gravel driveway. And that really slow crunch as you begin to roll the car, and you take that and you drop it four or five octaves and it just rises up like magma from the center of the earth out of this creature. There's something about the beast that recognizes the power and the age and the connection. Obviously, it's supernatural because it is standing in front of you, but the power in the voice is ancient. There's no need. I know who you are. Who I am is irrelevant to the purpose. [00:30:52] Speaker B: Irrelevant, perhaps, but I was always taught that it's rude not to get somebody's name when engaging in conversation. [00:31:01] Speaker A: You may know my name when you prove worthy of knowing it. [00:31:09] Speaker B: All right, and how would I go about doing that. [00:31:13] Speaker A: Mine is not the end. You are here to serve. I am a guardian given a specific purpose. When you have fulfilled your specific purpose, the intertwining of our lives will be done. [00:31:36] Speaker D: I think we're going to have a problem with that part. And I'll stand up, using the wall as a bit of a crutch. There's some cracking as I get bones in joints where they're supposed to go. Can't do much about what's left of the arm, but whatever. I think our purpose is counter to yours, based on all of this. And I'll gesture at the gargoyle. [00:32:21] Speaker E: Now, wait just a second here. We seem to love this whole ambiguity and talking in circles nonsense, but, Gargoyle, you have a purpose. And you say that we have a purpose and that when everything is done, we leave. So let's just cut the fat and get to the steak. What is these purposes? What's our purpose? [00:32:49] Speaker A: Why are you here? [00:32:53] Speaker E: Well, not to be rude, but I'm here to pop Jason fucking Newberry's head like a hormonal zit. [00:33:01] Speaker A: You are here to destroy him. [00:33:07] Speaker E: Well, yes, Mrs. Gargoyle. That's why I fought you. To get to the target objective and to end his reign of terror. [00:33:20] Speaker A: Then destroy him. [00:33:24] Speaker E: And just so that we're all above board, you're cool with that? [00:33:30] Speaker A: My purpose is to ensure you fulfill yours. You will take his unlife. You will leave his soul. You will leave this place. [00:33:44] Speaker C: Oh, that's it. [00:33:55] Speaker B: There's a small internal gut dropping almost. I'm sorry. How did you know that we were coming? How do you know that this is our purpose? [00:34:22] Speaker A: Your explanation will arrive in good time, little tramire. My purpose is to ensure you achieve yours. [00:34:37] Speaker B: I clutch at the ivy leaf around my neck and just shake my head before turning back with a slightly worried look on my face. [00:34:47] Speaker C: What is it? [00:34:56] Speaker B: If the Gargoyle says that we have a purpose, it means that somebody knows that we're here. Somebody who owns the Gargoyle had to tell the Gargoyle that we were coming and that we had a purpose to fulfill. We aren't here as secretly as we'd like to be. [00:35:23] Speaker C: And given what was just attempted, that is Maya. Oh, you're standing. [00:35:38] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:35:42] Speaker C: So it sounds like what you just attempted is likely not going to be plausible. Unless you would like to get turned into paste. [00:35:59] Speaker A: There's a sound of stone knuckles crunching. [00:36:06] Speaker E: I missed something when I was on the Gargoyle go round. What did Maya attempt to do? She tried to kill Jason, right? [00:36:15] Speaker B: She tried to bite him. We just rip his head from his body. [00:36:24] Speaker C: I'll explain it. [00:36:25] Speaker D: I'll explain it. [00:36:27] Speaker B: We're not going to explain it to the pup. [00:36:29] Speaker D: We're going to explain it to we're not going to. When a vampire does bad, it means that they don't deserve to live anymore. They are a blight on your bloodline and should be removed. And the best way to do that and retain the strength of that blood. Take it. Take everything from them, everything that is them. [00:36:53] Speaker E: Sure. [00:36:54] Speaker B: Retain the strength of the blood, and then also bring their soul into yours. And then enter into this whole contest of wills and ask me how I know. [00:37:01] Speaker D: Maya, literally. [00:37:06] Speaker B: Better vampires than you have tried, Maya, and failed spectacularly. Ask me how I know. [00:37:13] Speaker C: It is incredibly dangerous and not something that is looked well upon, especially not in the Camarilla. [00:37:24] Speaker A: The metaphysical implications are irrelevant. If you attempt to take his soul, I will destroy you. [00:37:35] Speaker E: Okay, so new questions. Number one, we have souls, apparently. Number two, after we kill Jason Newberry, it sounded like, if I recall what the Gargoyles said, that we leave the soul, meaning by proxy, by ambiguity, they take the soul. And if we're being played here, does that mean somebody is either using us to kill this guy or using us to just do Diablory with more steps? Am I saying that right? Diablo? [00:38:08] Speaker B: No. If we remove his head from his body and his body turns to ash, then his soul is no more. It's gone. It disappears. It flies up into heaven or wherever. [00:38:22] Speaker E: Okay, sorry. I'm learning as I'm going, but I'm taking my notes. So then, Maya, you were trying to do this thing, this thing that everyone says is yes. [00:38:36] Speaker D: Yes, Alex, I was trying to do the bad thing. And the finger quotes on that are made a little bit the finger quotes on the bad thing are made a little weaker by the fact that I can't move some of them. When someone proves they are not worthy of their power, you don't just let it waste away. You take it from them. [00:39:04] Speaker E: Okay, look, I get that so much of this culture that we are all attached to is about taking from other people against their will. I get that. But I'm guessing there are dire consequences, cultural consequences for doing this thing. Why else is there a tank in human form here? To make sure that we only kill this guy and nothing else? [00:39:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:35] Speaker E: Maya, do you remember how tenuous things were at the court with La Sambra just getting here? And you, whether you want to or not, are a representative of people started. [00:39:50] Speaker D: By the asshole who set our hotel on fire, this guy. [00:39:54] Speaker E: Sure. And also could be ended by literally thousands of people. What you're doing is selfish. It's not helping people who are begging for a chance. [00:40:10] Speaker B: Moral implications aside, the important thing to remember here and I kind of glance at Maya, is that somebody powerful is using us, and they want to ensure that we don't leave with power. [00:40:31] Speaker E: Okay, that's fair. That's valid, and I think we've all accomplished that today. [00:40:36] Speaker D: No. [00:40:37] Speaker E: Doesn't that bother you that there's someone powerful in a vampire society that wants to use me and make sure I don't get more powerful? I've been a vampire. [00:40:48] Speaker D: For a very short time or felt before. I am talking about Ivy. Miss I participate willingly in this pyramid scheme. Doesn't it bother you that there's no upward mobility for you? Seems like there's a huge representation of it right in front of us. [00:41:06] Speaker B: Is this really the time to talk about this? [00:41:08] Speaker C: Right now. [00:41:13] Speaker B: You are making a ton of assumptions about who this gargoyle belongs to and where this gargoyle came from. [00:41:24] Speaker D: Looks like a fish, acts like a fish. Isn't it blood magic that makes Gargoyles at this point? [00:41:34] Speaker B: Yeah, like a thousand years ago. And now there are so many rules preventing us from making more. [00:41:41] Speaker D: Who do you work for? [00:41:44] Speaker A: My master is irrelevant. We all serve ivy. Why don't you make an intelligence and politics role for me? Reach into that brain, see if you can pull out a fact. [00:41:59] Speaker B: Four successes. Do I need to do better? I can do better. [00:42:04] Speaker A: Four successes is sufficient. This isn't something that your sire would have communicated to you directly, but it is something that a precocious observer and occasional eavesdropper, if you know anyone of that proclivity, would have picked up along the way. After the attack on the chantry during the Lupine War, the Inner Circle saw fit to increase the defensive capabilities of the Tremere in Chicago. And to fulfill that need, they dispatched a very, very special weapon, ostensibly to be controlled by the regent formerly Nikolai. Now that they are missing, one assumes that falls to Disable. But you don't know any Gargoyle of this size, of this age, of this power that would willingly bend to those men. There's only one Gargoyle strong enough. There's only one name famous enough. There is only one creature loyal enough to the Inner Circle and powerful enough to have their attention. There is no one else this could be. You stand in the presence of. [00:43:26] Speaker C: Ah. [00:43:31] Speaker B: I back away, grabbing Maya's arm, which is very easy to do, and just wrenching it from my face before I turn around and address her. Ublasata. I truly I never expected to meet you. I'm so sorry it took me so long to put it all together, but there's nobody else that it could be, right? Like you're. You, obviously. [00:44:14] Speaker A: Ours is not to determine the weave of fate. We arrive where we arrive precisely because we have been directed to do so. That is the nature of our house and our clan. We have purpose. [00:44:34] Speaker B: Yes. And your purpose is to protect. Since the Lupine War, it has always been to protect. Yes. [00:44:48] Speaker A: My instructions are not for your mind to know. Were they, one of your masters would have seen fit to inform you. [00:44:59] Speaker B: At this point, I'm just kind of musing out loud because Nikolai is presumed missing, and Disable can barely keep the chantry together, much less control over a Gargoyle. So I'm trying to piece together who could be in control of this, and I don't like the options that are popping up in my head. So I'm going to sit with those for just a second, I think. [00:45:24] Speaker A: Allow your thoughts to wander, but dawn eventually comes. [00:45:30] Speaker E: Okay, whatever. Fucking all this circle talking. I'm just going to do the job we came here to do. I storm over to the reason we came here, the prize. Jason fucking newberry. And I stomp over loudly to claim him. [00:45:47] Speaker D: Storyteller. I would like to stop that from happening. [00:45:52] Speaker A: Alex is a big boy, so I'm interested into how you're going to do that. [00:45:57] Speaker D: Arms of Aharman will get there before I do. I don't need to put him out. I just need to stop what he's doing. [00:46:05] Speaker A: Well, let's activate that power with a rouse check and see what happens from there. [00:46:10] Speaker D: I'm thinking clearly. I don't get any hungrier. Alex might feel a little colder as tentacles of shadow wrap around his arms. [00:46:21] Speaker A: Alex not the only one feeling colder, because your rouse check came back as a ten, which activates one of the smaller trickier rules of oblivion. When you ask of the void, sometimes a little bit sneaks out and attaches itself to you. So you will take a stain to your humanity as that cold radiates, not just out of the tentacles, not just out of Maya, but the entire temperature of the room dropping a few noticeable degrees. The light growing dimmer as that raw force of entropy, of end of nothingness fills up the space around you. Alex, you've seen Maya in lecture mode and you've seen Maya in angry mode, but this is different. This is power. This is clear, focused, intentional, destructive rage. The question for you is whether or not you're going to stand up to that rage or whether you are going to stand down. [00:47:42] Speaker E: I can feel the beast inside of me, its hackles raised blood curdling with some sense of anger, frustration, rage, but also recognition. And I start to think about the things that Maya was saying about Jason Newberry before he came down here. I recognize her stakes, recognize what she's feeling. And honestly, just so long as the job gets fucking done and we don't have any more problems to worry about and this means so much to her, then fine. And as I recognize that, I turn to her. All right, rockstar takes center stage. Do what you got to do. And I just walk away and give her space. [00:48:40] Speaker A: Well, Maya, you rock star. Tell us what you do. [00:48:45] Speaker D: You've done this once. I'm feeling extra spooky. Now that the way has been cleared, I head back over to the coffin, give a sidelong look at the gargoyle. Probably can't go for a second try. Seems I've been discouraged enough, so I'll do what I do best. Two hands on either side of his face. Touch of oblivion. Turn him into nothing. [00:49:20] Speaker A: It's the smell that will define this memory for the four of you in the years and decades to come. Rot decay. First, the withering of those beautiful blonde locks of immaculately cut hair. Then the skin underneath. And then the bone, the little plasticine sheath that encases the brain. And then the gray matter beneath. All rendered unto dust. Ashes to ashes, etc. As Maya carves her way through what remains of Jason Newberry, his very essence dissolving in her hands. The body itself withers away, until Maya is gently cupping in her hands a withered and weathered skull attached to a yellowing skeleton here and there, with just the littlest last bits of sinews remaining. All of it punctuated with the clatter of a stake, no longer supported by a body falling flat into the coffin. [00:50:43] Speaker D: With that finished, I will sit back on my heels on the coffin, hop on off, toss the skull to Ivy, keep the change and head out. [00:50:59] Speaker B: I catch the skull and stare at it for a minute before looking up and watching Maya disappear. [00:51:10] Speaker C: Well, that looks like a job done to me. Can we please get topside? [00:51:17] Speaker B: I glance at ublasatha. Has she made any movements at all since Maya did her thing? [00:51:26] Speaker A: She watches Maya depart and then only her head turning to face you. And then she extends her hand, palm up in your direction. Nothing leaves. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Right. I go over and place the skull. [00:51:49] Speaker A: In her hand, closing immediately, crushing it to powder. Your purpose is fulfilled. Depart. [00:52:06] Speaker B: I turn around, looking at Calamity and Alex. Well, you heard her. And I'll start ushering them towards the door. [00:52:20] Speaker A: And so the scene ends. My Lagossi having achieved revenge on behalf of Clan Lasombra. But not without cost. Physical for some of you, political for all of you. Once the last of you has crossed the threshold out of this room, you can hear the grinding of stone again, the entryway being smoothed shut by Gargoyle powers. You are alone now. Four of you in the antechamber with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company. What are those thoughts? [00:53:11] Speaker C: We've done the job. Jason's fucking newberry is dust. Never darken. Another doorway again. And if I never have to be this far underground again, it'll be too soon. Once again, I feel that panic rising. It is everything. It's taken everything in me to not start motoring up and out. But I'm not going to leave anybody behind down here. [00:53:41] Speaker B: At this point, the only thing on my mind is who Ubla Satha works for. I'm happy that Jason Newberry is dead, but that just means that there is another problem coming our way. I mean, in fairness, I suppose it was always going to happen, regardless of whether or not we found ourselves here. [00:54:07] Speaker D: But. [00:54:11] Speaker B: I have suspicions on who she works for. If I'm correct, which I usually am, I'm just I'm surprised that they wouldn't say something about it sooner. [00:54:33] Speaker E: Another damn week, another moment where something I don't know is a weapon against me. I don't know anything. I am just a child and I'm constantly frustrated at the fact that everyone has secrets that I must understand but no one wants to tell me because there's secrets. I get it. Vampires have secrets. That's like the whole thing that I'm learning. And I'm growing frustrated trying to figure out how I can best serve these people and not just be a constant disappointment who gets shot in the chest and mauled by a wolf. And am I just a weapon to these people? Maybe what the Prince said was right. Maybe I can't serve two masters. And maybe I can't serve one that just likes to call me a little puppy dog and keep me on a chain and scold me when I don't know things I don't know and I'll figure it out. This is my family. And at the end of the day, let's just focus on the positive. Alex, we did the damn thing. Jason Newberry's dead. That's the silver lining to all this. Other job done. We can figure out the next step later. Figure out Maya? Honestly, what the hell is she going to do next? Oh, well, maybe the Prince wasn't right about Maya. Maybe I don't have to serve three masters. I can just serve Ivy anyway. Keep the positive. We killed the dickhead. Now we can party. [00:56:23] Speaker A: Do vampires party? [00:56:26] Speaker E: Anyway, fuck it. [00:56:29] Speaker D: Jason fucking newberry. Is Jason fucking dead? I feel great. Metaphorically, I feel like shit. Physically. I think once the high of oblivion, adrenaline popping my shoulder back in place wears off, I am going to have to figure out who's left. Who owns the Gargoyle, who wants to see us kill, who wants to see us participate in this extra judicial killing, and yet is letting us do it. It feels like blackmail. I don't feel I don't feel bad about this, but probably could have been neater. Whatever the implications of the Gargoyle and of them allowing us to do this, seems like something I can deal with later. [00:57:50] Speaker A: Perhaps. Consequences. A theme of all of your answers. And yes, there are going to be many consequences for the actions that occurred tonight. Physical, obviously, for Maya, emotionally, obviously for Alex, and political for all of you. It is curious that many of you voiced the concern over who you are working for, who Ublosata is working for, who are the players moving you, the pawns across the chessboard? I am pleased to announce that is not a question you will have to wait long to hear the answer to. Because as you ascend as you find the surface once more, as you find cell phone reception once more, there's the little vibration in Ivy's pocket. A text message. I can't imagine it will take long for Ivy to reach inside, retrieve the device, punch in the four digit code, and open the message from a restricted number. The text is simple. Thank you, succubus club tomorrow. PKJ. I imagine that will be caused for a great amount of conversation between the four of you. But unfortunately, our episode has come to a close. How will you handle the task that you have been given? The duplicity demonstrated in the pursuit of that goal? The scale of the scheme you find yourself involved in? Answers aplenty that I want to find. But that's a story for another night. You've been listening to the All Night Society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queens Court Games. 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