Welcome to Providence by Night, the continuing recounting of our tabletop Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle. Providence by Night is a low-powered, “street-level” game featuring a group of very new vampires adjusting to unlife in Providence and the vampiric condition. You can read the whole story so far on our main Providence by Night page.
In this week’s update, it’s time to fight! What? That’s right, the slow burn of Providence by Night has finally erupted into a little bit of the old ultra-violence, as the coterie rolls out to protect their domain and bring down the Anarch gang leader, Rachael (who just so happens to be Nathan’s sire). Read on, as the first “season” of Providence by Night nears its conclusion.
Session 20 – Ballroom Blitz – April 1, 2015
Spencer explained his visions to the coterie and Nathan became quite eager for the chance to confront his Anarch sire. Remembering his promise, the Nathan called on his fellow Brujah Don Coyote with news of Rachael’s hideout. But Nathan convinced Don Coyote not to invite his subordinate Tex, fearing that Tex’s loyalty would be shaken when confronted with their shared sire.
Anticipating a fight, and recognizing that the coterie were far from seasoned combatants, Beth called in allies as well. Kate knew of Rachael from her gang’s reputation in Hartford and agreed to help, stating that Beth “sure knows how to show a girl a good time.” Beth called Caoimhe as well, hoping to kill two birds with one stone by getting more assistance and giving the Ventrue an opportunity to recover from recent setbacks. Caoimhe agreed that their fight was a just one, but made no promises to be there in time.
The coterie decided to wait for their strike force to assemble at Quintessence. While they were waiting, Nathan called up his junkie contact Mark Little and asked for a favor: preferably a high-caliber, unregistered favor. Little delivered a nine-mil pistol and a thirty-eight special. Nathan handed Tony the revolver, keeping the semi-automatic handgun for himself. Kate and Don Coyote arrived soon after. The Kindred were deciding whether to give Caoimhe a few extra minutes when another vampire entered the club. The coterie immediately recognized Prince Elsa of Hartford from her recent appearances in Providence. Tony swooned. The visiting Prince, already privy to the coming assault on Rachael, wished them luck and petitioned that the coterie finish the job that night, rather than giving Rachael the option to live. Elsa noted that she had heard positive things about Beth’s reliability, seeming to suggest that it would behoove the Malkavian to continue being so that night, then left the coterie to their work.
The band made what turned out to only a short walk over to the Outlaw hideout: a derelict restaurant just a few blocks south of their Domain. They noticed two motorcycles parked out back and pale light escaping from behind boarded up windows. Kate transformed into her white wolf form, snuck around, took up lookout from a concealing hedge.
Then another motorcycle approached carrying a figure wearing a black helmet and a large backpack. The newcomer proved to be friend rather than foe and, as the figure emerged from the shadows and lifted its visor, Beth was glad to greet Caoimhe. Not content with the more mundane weaponry carried by the coterie, Caoimhe had thought it prudent to retrieve her paired sub-machine guns before assaulting a dangerous Anarch.
Under Nathan’s direction, Tony snuck up, disabled the motorbikes, and unlocked the rear door. The coterie burst in, Nathan overwhelming one gang member in the kitchen while Don Coyote eviscerated another in the men’s restroom. The other bathroom contained Spencer’s vision: an Asian man suspended on chains by meat hooks through his back with a wooden stake in his heart. Don Coyote dragged one of the Outlaw corpses into the bathroom as Nathan lowered the man and Beth readied to remove the stake.
Trent awoke with a long gasp desperately mumbling that he was “so hungry” before descending onto the biker’s corpse. The Kindred watched in pity as the fledgling drained the Outlaw and asked about someone named Carrie. No one knew who Carrie was, but all had lots of questions for the man. Trent revealed the horror of how Rachael took him away with her inescapable presence and held him captive at the hideout for months. She would force him to devour people before overwhelming him, staking him, and hanging him from the meat hooks where his blood would be collected in plastic buckets. Even though he was asleep and unable to move, Trent had seen and felt everything that happened. His blood was later mixed with a mysterious white powder which was then portioned, removed, and the whole process would begin again. Rachael would leave for days at a time, “but she always comes back here” Trent said as more bike engines could be heard in the distance. The coterie hid themselves.
They were not disappointed. Rachael entered with a few of her goons and called out to the bikers who were supposed to be holding down the fort. When no one answered, Rachael drew her pistol and cocked the hammer back. Then the shooting started. Caoimhe covered the doors, spraying hot lead into the Outlaws as Kate ripped into Rachael’s backup from behind. Tony ineffectively shot his revolver dry before panicking and throwing the weapon at one of the goons. Don Coyote went toe-to-toe with Rachael, landing a solid blow before the Anarch began to get the better of him. However, Rachael’s focus on the two Camarilla Brujah engaged in melee with her allowed a steely-eyed Beth to empty round after round into the gang leader who had threatened the coterie. Rachael dropped, and Nathan plunged a stake of sharpened oak into his sire’s heart. Around the coterie and their allies, the mortal gang members lay dead or dying. Beth, ravenous from using the blood to enhance her abilities, latched onto one of the dying bikers and drank until his heart stopped.
As the night ended, the group dragged the bodies into the sewer, took Rachael, and made a call to the police from one of the biker’s phones to ensure that they situation was handled properly. Don Coyote called the leadership of the city of Providence, reported the night’s events, then snapped his flip phone shut. “The Prince will meet us at the Yacht Club in 30 minutes. He said to bring the Anarch.”
End Session 20