Scion – Petro Campaign – Session 75

This account was originally found on Livejournal, I am not the original author—I am just a fan of the journal and have found reading it on livejournal clunky to navigate and rife with errors/instability (such as having to refresh multiple times due to the page in questions becoming unavailable often requiring multiple refreshes. The original post can be found here, published by DJ-Yomi, and was published on Apr 29th 2010

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Things are drawing to a very violent close here in Night Haven. If the last few hours are any indication, things are going to be very intense over the next day or so. Still, I feel a little guilty about the way we’ve been handling things here. And about the fact that I incited a fight between the Apepnu and our vampire allies that got the Daimyo killed. Actually, I feel much more guilty about that than I do about assassinating more of the titan-aligned vampires. But I’m starting to ramble, so let me just tell you what happened.

The big meeting between the vampires was held as scheduled. I went in disguise as Jenny, of course. I helped Elisa and Charles disguise as mortal bodyguards so that they wouldn’t be recognized as scions. Elisa looked ravishing in a kimono as part of Fuguhime’s retinue. Adam attended as a spider, riding along on one of my barrettes as a hair ornament. And Pierre used Cheval to ride along inside my and Elisa’s heads while T-Bone infiltrated the meeting invisibly.

Before the meeting we all met in a spacious parlor where everyone was able to mix and mingle politely and peacefully. I really enjoyed it, except for the fact that the Apepnu were there. >_< Getting a chance to actually talk to some of our enemies, like the Qing Shi, without worrying about open violence was a nice change of pace. And of course I enjoyed playing the role of Suchette’s consort; taking a back seat role was good for me, I think.

The Daimyo was unhappy with the proceedings. I don’t think he thought much of his fellow vampires. The Doge and Amelia stuck close to us, having settled into the security of our alliance. The cliques were pretty obvious, though. The Camazotz mostly kept to themselves and the Qing Shi greeted the rest of us as a close-knit unit and frequently whispered between themselves. The Apepnu were very gregarious, annoyingly so, in fact, since they didn’t even belong there.

An Aptrganger (a sort of sentient Norse zombie) was also in attendance, much to our surprise. The leyek representative stuck with the Qing Shi, and of all the vampires in attendance, she was the one we despised most because she openly fed upon children during the gathering. It was all we could do not to destroy her on the spot…but we had to let her get away with it so that we could accomplish our larger objective. Was that right? Or should we have done something at the time? As soon-to-be-gods, tough choices like that are likely to become even more common. Then again, I don’t really have a problem with shades of gray, which I guess is one thing that always came between me and Ray.

Anyway, in the middle of the pre-meeting social event, T-Bone just suddenly decided to appear, out of nowhere, and parade around like he had every right to be there. He really is becoming a mad trickster god. I figured out that he was trying to cause some chaos, and after he made the rounds and flirtatiously complimented all the ladies in attendance except Qetu the Evil-Doer, I realized he was trying to incite the jealous Apepnu into losing her temper. After all, she’s know to despise beautiful women and hates being ignored.

He really made her angry too, but she didn’t actually lose her temper. Still, I saw an opportunity. ^_^ If we could make her lose her cool and even attack someone, the other vampires in attendance would likely unite against her in anger over an outsider attacking one of their own. In other words, we could manipulate the vampires into getting rid of two of our enemies without ever revealing that we were scions. And then we wouldn’t have to worry about the Apepnu meddling in our plans.

So after T-Bone made his rounds (and disappeared again), I walked up to Qetu and commented rather pointedly on how T-Bone’s attention to the ladies had made me realize that someone had been left out. That’s all it took. She snapped and attacked me.

I should note at this point that Adam strongly disapproved of this plan. In fact, he went so far as to bite me on the head (he was still a spider, of course) to express his dismay.

Everything exploded into chaos. Qetu ripped off her own skin and used it as a whip, wrapping it around my neck and viciously yanking my head right off my shoulders. I was able to corpse-shed it though, so while my body was torn asunder and flung across the room, I remained safe. Still, I KNEW I wouldn’t be able to take another hit like that, and that it was probably taking a huge effort of will to inflict such grievous blows, so after I corpse-shed Qetu’s first attack and was picking myself up off the floor, I made a sharp comment about her low self-esteem. She was completely demoralized, so much so that her next blow was much less vicious. It still hurt, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t take.

Meanwhile, Suchette, Elisa, Charles, the Daimyo and the Doge leapt to my aid, while Hau-Hra grew wicked blades on his arms and stepped in to defend Qetu. The fight was brutal and fast. Elisa and Charles were badly limited because they had to avoid revealing their true identities, but they still landed blows. The Daimyo inflicted vicious attacks on Qetu, while the Doge used his mastery over necromancy and water to tear Hau-Hra’s vital fluids from his body. Meanwhile, the Apepnu’s summoned undead servants clashed with the Doge’s manes. In a few short seconds it was over. T-Bone unleashed a devastating blow upon Hau-Hra from hiding, while Charles finished off Qetu with a cunning strike of his katana (the one we originally got from Daitokuji!). We had successfully destroyed both Apepnu (for the time being…they’ll be back) while maintaining our disguises and inspiring a feeling of “us vs. them” between the vampires and the Apepnu. It was not without cost, though.  Before he was destroyed, Hau-Hra killed the Daimyo, impaling him on a wall with a spear of metal.

I was almost heartbroken at the loss of the Daimyo. T_T I really liked him, and he seemed like he’d be a valuable and honorable ally in the future, especially in regard to redeeming Ama-no-zaku. His loss was a mistake…I should have thought things through better. I feel like was too foolhardy and risked the lives of my allies unnecessarily. Maybe Adam was right to oppose the plan.

Once the fight was over, I rushed to the Daimyo’s body and quickly summoned his ghost. We spoke for a few brief moments, and I was comforted to know that he was satisfied with his death. He died honorably, in battle, and I got the feeling that he was content to be released from his curse. I promised to honor my word to redeem Ama-no-zaku and asked the Daimyo’s ghost to serve me in order to do so, and he quietly pledged himself to me.

Later, when I lamented his loss to the others, they suggested that things might not be so bad after all. For one thing, with the Daimyo dead, he won’t be as much of a threat to Oda, so that’s one problem averted. Secondly, in time Charles assures me that he might be able to transform the Daimyo’s ghost into a kami! He totally deserves to become a sword kami. I guarantee he’d like that. ^_^ And finally, as Adam pointed out, I was free to take the Daimyo’s obsidian mask, the one that let us summon Ama-no-zaku. ^_^ That’ll be useful later.

Fuguhime didn’t take the Daimyo’s death well. She really loved him. I guess such a long and turbulent past can do that to a vampire couple. I felt terrible. I gave her the Daimyo’s daisho for safekeeping. She seemed to appreciate it. Unfortunately (but understandably) her emotional distress meant that she wasn’t really very helpful to us during the rest of the meeting. >_<

The meeting itself was relatively uneventful and ran about like I thought it would. The Adze and Camazotz founders made their appearances at the meeting, and it was the Adze Founder who spoke and encouraged the vampires to unify behind the titans. He made an extremely good speech. It was very, very convincing. He even had the audacity to use the “misunderstanding” with the Apepnu as a rationale for joining the titans, and managed to spin it so that it was pretty convincing.

But then Suchette and I spoke for our point-of-view. We explained that the incident with the Apepnu, who are, I’ll note, ardent devotees of the titans, only illustrated the kind of allies the titans can be: allies who will turn on the vampires with little provocation. We explained why it was in the vampires’ best interest to remain free of the titans’ control, and our words outweighed those of the Adze Founder. In fact, combined with our unity against the Apepnu, our speech more-or-less convinced the Aptrganger to side with our power block.

Unfortunately, the Qing Shi and Camazotz are still solidly in the titans’ corner, but then again, we didn’t expect to change their minds. As the meeting adjourned, however, Elisa’s sharp ears did catch the Qing Shi whispering to one another about how they would have to do something about Suchette and her allies. That pretty much made them our next target. I think the military term is “preemptive strike,” which is just political double talk for a sneak attack. ^_^

After the meeting, we helped our allies retreat to the safety of the secret tunnels. Since the Daimyo was slain, we suggested that Fuguhime move into the tunnels as well. She was still distraught over the Daimyo’s death and quietly went along with the suggestion. As we were taking care of that, Adam and I visited the Daimyo’s household and carefully collected the Ama-no-zaku mask. I’ll be keeping that somewhere safe in my estate on Red Mountain; Adam doesn’t want anything to do with it.

Once we’d secured our allies, we discussed with the Doge what our next step would be. He was eager to seize upon the opportunity to eliminate more of his rivals, and we all agreed that we would need to take care of the Qing Shi before they took care of us. In retrospect, we probably could have just waited things out since I doubt the Qing Shi could penetrate the tunnels, but I think we were all just as eager as the Doge to get rid of more of the titans’ staunch allies. So after some brief planning, Adam led us through the tunnels to the estate shared by our enemies. I let the manes seneschal possess me again, and this time she shared her name with me! I can’t reveal it here, though. I won’t betray her trust.

Oh, and while we were relaxing in the tunnel lair we’ve established, planning our next move, Suchette and Amelia both cuddled up to me, demanding my attention with their flirtatious behavior. I know, I’m a bad girl, but I can’t help it. I like the attention. They were shooting bitterly cold glances at each other, though. I’m worried about where that might go…I should probably be more careful with how I treat them. I need to stop leading them on, for one thing. >_<

It’ll be nice to get back to Echo and Yi.

T-Bone crept in to examine the situation inside. Pierre rode along with Cheval and communicated between us, reporting that the Blood and Flesh Ancestors were huddled over a large map in one room, apparently planning their attack on us and our allies, whom they seemed to believe were still in their respective manors. The Qing Shi’s manor was full of Jiang Shi and langsuir and was guarded by a couple of celestial hounds, so going in the front door would be a chore. Plus, the powerful, child-eating elder leyek was with them, almost like a mascot. So we opted for a surprise attack, using the same method of entry we’d used to assassinate Ishalam.

So, up through the walls we went, and we popped out and ambushed the Qing Shi while the Doge broke in through the front door and followed the manor’s Jiang Shi guardians as they clambered upstairs to defend their masters. As soon as the ambush began, I began glowing with sunlight, searing the Chinese vampires’ flesh and obliterating most of the Jiang Shi instantly. Meanwhile, the others focused their attentions on the Ancestors. They didn’t last long against Elisa’s sun bullets, especially after Adam stepped forward and invoked a curse upon them while boldly proclaiming” Loathsome creatures, thou titanic kin, I weaken your efforts so my allies shall win!” Charles took care of the leyek elder. He’s good at that. ^_^

We were able to mop up or exorcise the rest of their guards, including the celestial hounds, in short order. And, with that done, we retreated back to the tunnels to discuss what to do next. We still haven’t made concrete plans, but Adam and I agree that attacking the Camazotz head-on isn’t our best option. The fact is, our enemies still outmatch our allies: They only have two Camazotz left, but they also have two of the Founders, while we count four vampires in our camp: Suchette, the Doge, Fuguhime, and Darga. Our enemies outweigh us in terms of power and prestige, which could swing things in their favor when the Vampire King arrives.

Attacking the Camazotz, who are certainly protected by their founder and by the Tallyman, would be foolish, especially since we’re all beginning to run a little low on our divine power. Hell, last time we ran into any Camazotz, even Ray had a hard time with them. >_<

On the other hand, finding and eliminating the isolated Adze elder would not only even the balance of power, but it would also provide Suchette with the opportunity to take his power herself, putting her on even terms with the Camazotz Founder.

And after all, one of my main objectives on this mission was to help Suchette take a Founder’s power. *evil laugh*