⚠ <p>The cat looks pointedly at Aiden and says something in beast speak. Then it looks at Murgatroyd and says something else (still in beast speak?) which makes Murgatroyd very angry. He jumps forward and the next thing we know the kitty is smithereens on Mai's floor, leaving a nice little hole. People try to ask Murgatroyd some questions as he leaves, but he doesn't give much information.
⚠ <p>Aiden later translates that the cat said "If I don't find the daughter first, he will". Aiden is very perplexed with what this means.
⚠ <p>Knowing the kitty can reconstitute itself, JT and Mai head down to the basement where the kitty has fallen through the floor and debate how to go about burning the cat as everyone else picks bedrooms for the day. The burning of the cat is not much difficulty, but as the cat smolders (and the rest of the group retires to morning slumber), JT and Mai step outside where JT makes a very interesting proposition. Mai snarls at him about how he is coldhearted and seems proud of it (but Mai understands that the proposition is the best course of action)(no, she doesn't, JT.. burn you!). He snarls back that she is mistaking his pride for strength of character (I think he meant the opposite (no he didn't...beasts are we all my dear), so Mai takes pity on his puny linguistic skills because at least Mai is still part human (what is human is but the flesh and even that is rotting a little)).
⚠ <p>Everyone sleeps in comfort on 500 thread count sheets (except JT) until Jenny has a nightmare and it appears for a split second that Jenny has crawled into bed with Randolf. Mai discerns through a keen sense of smell that that's not the case but nevertheless Randolf has a nice boost of ego to start his night.
⚠ <p>We discuss again what the cat said the night before and it is decided that we should go to the lab to find out if Aiden's blood has properties similar at all to Jenny's.
⚠ <p>We find out all sorts of interesting things at the lab, including that some vitae tends to act as an acid (reacting violently to the old malk vitae) and some tends to act as a base. Mai decides she wants to find out something and under the guise of curiousity of whether she is an 'acid' or a 'base' she offers a vitae sample and what she feared is proven: her blood is very much like Jenny's, but instead of turning the blood 'mortal' and keeping it that way, it quickly dies again.
⚠ <p>JT's blood does the usual and rots everyones.
⚠ <p>Then we do the most interesting thing of all and combine all of our blood together. Manfred gets to see a nice runic symbol of loyalty be formed. We have a group hug.
⚠ <p>Then we put our blood against that of the old malk and all of the blood does something... which we believe to be good. We now try to come up with ways that we can get Jenny to have enough of our combined blood in her without bonding her that we can destroy the old malk when he drinks her.
⚠ <p>Jenny tastes a sample of our combined blood and then bleeds for us so we can test this theory. It turns out our sample is not enough within her blood stream.
⚠ <p>At the moment, we find ourselves stuck, so we decide to tend to some personal business and *regather* later. We all walk out of the lab to the escalade (sp?) where we find Strauss behind the wheel.
⚠ <p>We get in.
⚠ <p>D'oh!
⚠ <p>Strauss drives and drives and drives and Randolf tries to sweet talk him but it doesn't work. Strauss takes us to an old manor out in the country on a lake and he walks up to the lake. JT walks up next to him and Strauss says to JT "Bring the coffin!" so JT does. (see above paragraph).
⚠ <p>JT brings in this metal coffin with ridges and symbols all over it (it takes us a while to realize, but it has 64 squares on each side). Strauss says his work here is done and leaves. We pry open the coffin and empty it. It is just water and mud.
⚠ <p>And then a skull rises from the lake. Enter Durgan, the Giovanni servant but not in THAT way servant whose job it was to watch over the coffin of the old malk. Then he goes over to a rose bush and feeds from it. Mai decides she must have one but preferably one without malk blood in it.
⚠ <p>Durgan goes about making preparations and then Manfred stakes him for no apparent reason so we can decide what to do. Then we all stand around in the same room declaring our desires to kill him, not kill him, torture him, etc because we are VERY SMART vampires.
⚠ <p>We finally take the argument outside. Our options now seem a bit more limited so Manfred decides that we should unstake him and ask him questions and if he doesn't cooperate we can restake him.
⚠ <p>Meanwhile, Randolf sets about getting the coffin into his escalade.
⚠ <p>Durgan is surprisingly not cooperative. Well, at least we THINK when he starts walking into the woods in at a leisurely and weak pace that he is not cooperating. So Manfred slams him with cauldren of blood and off we go to the beautiful city of Detroit to hide the coffin and Durgan.
⚠ <p>Durgan did not seem to have fond feelings for the master, only a sense of duty, so it becomes Mai's plan to persuade him as much as she can away from the master. Mai probes about Strauss and about how the master treated his people. Durgan recalls the master tortured his servants. Progress!
⚠ <p>Then we get to the mauseleum (sp?) and some of us go off to get some food. Then they come back to the starving Durgan well fed and with nothing for him. We begin interogating again, using cauldren of blood here and there. At one point someone makes a joking remark which sends Mai into a flashback. She gasps and runs from the building.
⚠ <p>Not seeing what is happening anymore, she is sure that it is Manfred's use of cauldren of blood that starts smoke spewing forth from the structure a few moments later. As JT exits, she gasps at him that Manfred has become a beast and that we are all monsters. Which could still have something to do with something JT said the night before that she has been considering.
⚠ <p>It is late once more and we need a place to retire. Someone ELSE offers Mai's place and furthermore we would like Adam to take a look at the markings on this coffin since he has an eye for such things, so we head back... this time allowing the ghouls to stay.
⚠ <p>The ghouls meet us at the door and Mai takes Adam to the garage to show him the coffin and the markings on it. He seems more disturbed by the fact that she is asking him pointedly about a coffin than anything else. He says it does seem vaguely familiar like a 'checkerboard' but nothing enlightening. Mai dismisses him and chooses to spend the night with Qasi while many of her kindred friends sleep in the guest house or the garage (except JT).
⚠ <p>Mai asks for the medical wristband from Qasi and finds the name of the clinic he was abducted to: "New Salvation Clinic". She looks it up in the phone book but finds nothing under this name. For now, her sire's suggestion has led her nowhere aside from that it's an illegitimate practice (no shit sherlock!).
⚠ <p>Mai has an image in the middle of the night of herself wearing a nurse's outfit and at that moment, Qasi drifts into a nightmare. Mai falls asleep again certain this time that she is a monster. And so is everyone with her.
⚠ <p>Except maybe for Randolf.
⚠ <p>Cuz he's just the TOOL of a monster.
⚠ <p>Nah, just cuz it's hard to be a monster when you are such a small little tool.
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