Vampire: Bloodlines part 6: Anarchy In LA
Dec. 3rd, 2013 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xyzzysqrlLast time, Ashe infiltrated the stronghold of the enemy and defeated it in hand-to-hand combat. (Okay, a bomb was also involved.) The untrustworthy prince praised her brave actions and bestowed a recon mission upon her. But first, a meeting with the revolutionary leader of the opposing faction...
Well, here we are in the first mission hub I've never been to: DOWNTOWN. My stated destination is the "Last Round" bar, where Nines wants to meet up. I could check a bus-terminal map and see where exactly that is, but let's walk around a little. Stretch those legs. See the sights, y'know. I have a couple of things I KNOW are on my list, like that quest to seek out "Muddy Mike" from the previous chapter.
I'm a little perturbed when the first thing I hear after loading my saved game is gunshots. Ashe quickly dives behind the taxi, trusting the bulletproofing of LA cabs, but after a while it seems pretty clear the shots aren't meant for her. So she pokes her head up and -- oh, there's a small gang war going on. Some scruffy thugs versus some prep looking fellows in blazers. Not sure what's up there. Not sure I wanna know.
Close by however is a black guy with a huge afro leaning on a truck. This is Fat Larry, who puts the "F-A-T" in Fat according to him. Fat Larry is perfectly willing to sell me all kinds of things out of the back of his big ol' truck, including some shotgun shells and some "heavy clothing", which is basically a hoodie and jeans but is stronger armor-wise than what I -was- wearing. I shell out and suit up. Larry instantly gets Interested. Turns out he needs a "hardcore pimp-killing Cleopatra Jones" type for a mission.
I think Ashe can walk in those shoes. What's he got in mind? Well, the Chinese Tong and some local boys are making a deal, and what's in their briefcase -- not that Larry will say word one about what's in the briefcase of course -- is a Big Deal. Could Ashe load up for bear and go fetch? Why yes she can.
On the way into the parking garage, however, Ashe stops for a second. The Prince wants her to make that run through the boat without killing anyone. Can she actually... DO that? Is she capable of stealth? Now is the time to experiment. So for five or six levels down into the parking garage, Ashe is a NINJA instead of a Hunter. Swinging from ladder to air-vent, clambering around carefully. No one sees her descend to the meeting point. Sure, there's a sudden outbreak of EXTREME NARCOLEPSY among the guards, but nobody actually SEES her.
Down at the meeting point, as Ashe watches from a corner, the deal goes south. The Tong and the gangers start shooting. They're so distracted blowing each other away they hardly notice Ashe dart in, grab the briefcase, and dart back out.
So yes. Stealth runs ARE possible even on a build not constructed for them. We've all learned something here tonight. Except the Tong. Well... they HAVE learned how to collect bullet holes. Still, better the devil you know shooting at you than the devil you DON'T know stabbing you in the back, right? That is an important philosophical tidbit that we could all stand to consider.
Fat Larry the Ample Soul Physician is more than happy to hand Ashe $500 for this coup de teat of planning and stealth. He also refers me down to "Venus" at Club Confession, who would surely have a use for Ashe's mad talent.
As I'm feeling exceptionally good about that, and strolling on my way to find this bar and meet up with Nines, I happen to glance up as I'm walking past a building. What do I see but a strange glowing dark-purple light at the peak. Remember that riddle-invitation back at the safehouse? All "DARK BLOOD A CURSE BLAH BLAH FUCK VERSE COME FIND ME WHERE BURNS THE MYSTICAL SUN BLAH BLAH I'M ARTISTIC MOTHERFUCKER"? Well, what if that's the mystical sun? I promptly shove the door open and check inside to see.
Okay, the atmosphere is kinda creepy as hell. And the first thing I find is a book on gargoyles and homunculi, which sorta bodes. Not poorly or well, it's just there. Boding. WAITING. For the inevitable sidequest that involves one or both. Then I discover something a wee touch creepier: All the turns and twists of the hallways in this place lead to the same door, behind which awaits... Max Strauss.
He's the big bald silky-voiced Regent of the Tremere ("You do not need to know our mysteries.") and he wished to meet me and size me up. We share some chat about the Prince (he won't say what he REALLY thinks of the Prince aside from "He's young", but seems to feel that "assisting the prince" and "assisting the Camarilla" are not the same thing), the Anarchs ("Mister Rodriguez could be a powerful ally were he not an Anarch" he laments) and general chatter about the world. The Anarchs feel that the Camarilla is just a bunch of old men trying to tell them how to run their lives. The Camarilla feel they represent order and structure, a network of laws to run vampire society.
What's my position? I'm still thinking about that.
He also has a job for Ashe, because who doesn't? In this case, a mysterious plague has been overrunning the vampire population. I should head down to the Last Round and talk to the Anarch there, as they're close to the street. I find myself really wanting to get in good with Max, since he seems to know what's what and he's clearly in a position of great influence, so we agree to do some legwork on this mystery disease.
Yet again all roads point to the Last Round, but before that, there's one last place I want to hit up: The Skyeline Apartments. I wanna check on our escaped bail-jumper Muddy Mike. As I walk in, I glance away to have a sip of tea... and nearly spit-take at the load screen tip.
"You can BLOCK in melee combat by holding Tab! Blocking gives you a Defense bonus equal to your Dexterity!"
I WHAT. BLOODLINES GOD DAMN IT YOU GOT TO TELL ME THESE THINGS.
Sigh. I head up to floor 2, where... the door is locked, and I can't get in. Grr. ... *tap fingers* I head up to floor -3-, where... the door is also locked. On all six floors the access door is locked, so I head back to the first floor and put the guard to sleep before checking out the Employees Only area, which leads down to the basement. Nothing, nothing, nothing... a passage to the sewers and an air duct, which leads me to a ladder, which goes... jackpot, straight up to the various rooms. Ductwork is AWESOME.
Turns out that Mister Muddy isn't home, but he does have a "meeting across the street from a bar" to get to. Bet that's across from the Last Round. I briefly consider dropping in on the other apartments, but ... c'mon. We're not a thief. Just a vampire on a number of missions. I exit via the sewers, just in case that guard is awake again. Time to hit up the Last Round.
At the Last Round I instantly spot a familiar face. Hey, Jack. Jack runs down the same general list of "The Camarilla are just a bunch of jerks trying to keep us down" grievences as the other Anarchs, although he does point out -- as if I really need it spelled out -- that Prince LaCroix has no power unless they give him power and ALSO he's kind of been trying to KILL ME with these missions. What he wants me to do is get in over my head and die for good so Lacroix can say "Well, I tried!" and handclap and move on.
Funny how that isn't working, huh?
I meet up with Nines eventually and we chat for a while. Ashe doesn't fully agree with his "everyone should look out for themselves" ideology, as it happens, and when she starts pointing out flaws in the Anarch command structure and the need for a real leader (or at least a figurehead) before change can effect itself, he throws up his hands and yells at her to get back to her Camarilla tower and lick LaCroix's shoes clean.
Touchy. Geez.
On the way out, though, I stop by and talk to an extremely ANGRY Anarch about the whole "Plague" situation. She points me to a fellow in the Skyeline Apartments, so it looks like we ARE going to break into someone else's apartment. She also tells me to check with the homeless, in between cursing and snarling at Ashe. By the end of the conversation tree the two are just short of screaming at each other.
...Y'know, I don't think I much LIKE the Anarchs. They're too... anarchic. I get the fuck out of their bar.
(...again, were I playing this for myself, I may well have hooked up with these guys, because fuck the man! Except, Ashe -is- the man. And she's not gonna go fuck HERSELF. Thus.)
NEXT TIME: We get some more sidequests done and possibly get on a boat!
Well, here we are in the first mission hub I've never been to: DOWNTOWN. My stated destination is the "Last Round" bar, where Nines wants to meet up. I could check a bus-terminal map and see where exactly that is, but let's walk around a little. Stretch those legs. See the sights, y'know. I have a couple of things I KNOW are on my list, like that quest to seek out "Muddy Mike" from the previous chapter.
I'm a little perturbed when the first thing I hear after loading my saved game is gunshots. Ashe quickly dives behind the taxi, trusting the bulletproofing of LA cabs, but after a while it seems pretty clear the shots aren't meant for her. So she pokes her head up and -- oh, there's a small gang war going on. Some scruffy thugs versus some prep looking fellows in blazers. Not sure what's up there. Not sure I wanna know.
Close by however is a black guy with a huge afro leaning on a truck. This is Fat Larry, who puts the "F-A-T" in Fat according to him. Fat Larry is perfectly willing to sell me all kinds of things out of the back of his big ol' truck, including some shotgun shells and some "heavy clothing", which is basically a hoodie and jeans but is stronger armor-wise than what I -was- wearing. I shell out and suit up. Larry instantly gets Interested. Turns out he needs a "hardcore pimp-killing Cleopatra Jones" type for a mission.
I think Ashe can walk in those shoes. What's he got in mind? Well, the Chinese Tong and some local boys are making a deal, and what's in their briefcase -- not that Larry will say word one about what's in the briefcase of course -- is a Big Deal. Could Ashe load up for bear and go fetch? Why yes she can.
On the way into the parking garage, however, Ashe stops for a second. The Prince wants her to make that run through the boat without killing anyone. Can she actually... DO that? Is she capable of stealth? Now is the time to experiment. So for five or six levels down into the parking garage, Ashe is a NINJA instead of a Hunter. Swinging from ladder to air-vent, clambering around carefully. No one sees her descend to the meeting point. Sure, there's a sudden outbreak of EXTREME NARCOLEPSY among the guards, but nobody actually SEES her.
Down at the meeting point, as Ashe watches from a corner, the deal goes south. The Tong and the gangers start shooting. They're so distracted blowing each other away they hardly notice Ashe dart in, grab the briefcase, and dart back out.
So yes. Stealth runs ARE possible even on a build not constructed for them. We've all learned something here tonight. Except the Tong. Well... they HAVE learned how to collect bullet holes. Still, better the devil you know shooting at you than the devil you DON'T know stabbing you in the back, right? That is an important philosophical tidbit that we could all stand to consider.
Fat Larry the Ample Soul Physician is more than happy to hand Ashe $500 for this coup de teat of planning and stealth. He also refers me down to "Venus" at Club Confession, who would surely have a use for Ashe's mad talent.
As I'm feeling exceptionally good about that, and strolling on my way to find this bar and meet up with Nines, I happen to glance up as I'm walking past a building. What do I see but a strange glowing dark-purple light at the peak. Remember that riddle-invitation back at the safehouse? All "DARK BLOOD A CURSE BLAH BLAH FUCK VERSE COME FIND ME WHERE BURNS THE MYSTICAL SUN BLAH BLAH I'M ARTISTIC MOTHERFUCKER"? Well, what if that's the mystical sun? I promptly shove the door open and check inside to see.
Okay, the atmosphere is kinda creepy as hell. And the first thing I find is a book on gargoyles and homunculi, which sorta bodes. Not poorly or well, it's just there. Boding. WAITING. For the inevitable sidequest that involves one or both. Then I discover something a wee touch creepier: All the turns and twists of the hallways in this place lead to the same door, behind which awaits... Max Strauss.
He's the big bald silky-voiced Regent of the Tremere ("You do not need to know our mysteries.") and he wished to meet me and size me up. We share some chat about the Prince (he won't say what he REALLY thinks of the Prince aside from "He's young", but seems to feel that "assisting the prince" and "assisting the Camarilla" are not the same thing), the Anarchs ("Mister Rodriguez could be a powerful ally were he not an Anarch" he laments) and general chatter about the world. The Anarchs feel that the Camarilla is just a bunch of old men trying to tell them how to run their lives. The Camarilla feel they represent order and structure, a network of laws to run vampire society.
What's my position? I'm still thinking about that.
He also has a job for Ashe, because who doesn't? In this case, a mysterious plague has been overrunning the vampire population. I should head down to the Last Round and talk to the Anarch there, as they're close to the street. I find myself really wanting to get in good with Max, since he seems to know what's what and he's clearly in a position of great influence, so we agree to do some legwork on this mystery disease.
Yet again all roads point to the Last Round, but before that, there's one last place I want to hit up: The Skyeline Apartments. I wanna check on our escaped bail-jumper Muddy Mike. As I walk in, I glance away to have a sip of tea... and nearly spit-take at the load screen tip.
"You can BLOCK in melee combat by holding Tab! Blocking gives you a Defense bonus equal to your Dexterity!"
I WHAT. BLOODLINES GOD DAMN IT YOU GOT TO TELL ME THESE THINGS.
Sigh. I head up to floor 2, where... the door is locked, and I can't get in. Grr. ... *tap fingers* I head up to floor -3-, where... the door is also locked. On all six floors the access door is locked, so I head back to the first floor and put the guard to sleep before checking out the Employees Only area, which leads down to the basement. Nothing, nothing, nothing... a passage to the sewers and an air duct, which leads me to a ladder, which goes... jackpot, straight up to the various rooms. Ductwork is AWESOME.
Turns out that Mister Muddy isn't home, but he does have a "meeting across the street from a bar" to get to. Bet that's across from the Last Round. I briefly consider dropping in on the other apartments, but ... c'mon. We're not a thief. Just a vampire on a number of missions. I exit via the sewers, just in case that guard is awake again. Time to hit up the Last Round.
At the Last Round I instantly spot a familiar face. Hey, Jack. Jack runs down the same general list of "The Camarilla are just a bunch of jerks trying to keep us down" grievences as the other Anarchs, although he does point out -- as if I really need it spelled out -- that Prince LaCroix has no power unless they give him power and ALSO he's kind of been trying to KILL ME with these missions. What he wants me to do is get in over my head and die for good so Lacroix can say "Well, I tried!" and handclap and move on.
Funny how that isn't working, huh?
I meet up with Nines eventually and we chat for a while. Ashe doesn't fully agree with his "everyone should look out for themselves" ideology, as it happens, and when she starts pointing out flaws in the Anarch command structure and the need for a real leader (or at least a figurehead) before change can effect itself, he throws up his hands and yells at her to get back to her Camarilla tower and lick LaCroix's shoes clean.
Touchy. Geez.
On the way out, though, I stop by and talk to an extremely ANGRY Anarch about the whole "Plague" situation. She points me to a fellow in the Skyeline Apartments, so it looks like we ARE going to break into someone else's apartment. She also tells me to check with the homeless, in between cursing and snarling at Ashe. By the end of the conversation tree the two are just short of screaming at each other.
...Y'know, I don't think I much LIKE the Anarchs. They're too... anarchic. I get the fuck out of their bar.
(...again, were I playing this for myself, I may well have hooked up with these guys, because fuck the man! Except, Ashe -is- the man. And she's not gonna go fuck HERSELF. Thus.)
NEXT TIME: We get some more sidequests done and possibly get on a boat!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 06:06 am (UTC)- Played this game
- Read this entry
...has made some comment to me about "What? Blocking? ... YOU CAN DO THAT? REALLY?" and been surprised. I would make a snarky comment except I didn't know EITHER, and I dug up a PDF of the original manual for the game and it -is actually in there-.
Maybe nobody ever does melee runs!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 01:15 am (UTC)