Prudence Barrow 1

A series played using Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition. This post is published under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 licence.

Prudence Barrow, Nosferatu Antitribu and longstanding member of the Sabbat, has just survived being led into an ambush.The only other survivor is Erasmus, their pack priest. Unfortunately he's a Malkavian and he's not handling the trauma well, he's been in a fugue state and had to be towed back to the van. Prudence relishes an opportunity to suffer performatively and can't bear to see others suffer (out of compassion mixed with jealousy). She hauls Erasmus to the black van where her ghouls wait.

Strength + Athletics (4) = 3 successes.

Frances, a sturdy if ill-tempered woman who has served as a ghoul for most of Prudence's inlife, steps out fo the van to grab an arm. Together they bundle Erasmus into the van and slam the doors shut behind them. Gautier, her wily but frail ghoul, floors it and the windowless van peels away into the waning night.

Did Prudence spot the ambush?

Perception + Awareness (3) = 0 successes.

She walked in just as oblivious as the rest of the pack. They'd been drawn in by the promise of lore; Erasmus had been granted a vision from the beyond and was keen to verify if an ancient was indeed buried in the field outside the city limits. The pack assumed the location was too isolated to attract Kindred rivals, while also too close to the city for the lupines. Unfortunately, they'd been wrong on the latter count; before they'd even got the shovels ready the wolves had materialised and the carnage began.

How quickly did Prudence react to the ambush?

Wits + Awareness with specialty (6) = 4 successes.

Once the lupines were upon them, Prudence's reflexes kicked in and she was racing back toward the exit. She nimbly evaded the claws of one of the nearby werewolves, the dagger-tipped digits opening the neck of their erstwhile misson leader. The Brujah Antitribu had been trying to use celerity to speed past, but their speed merely increased the spread of the spray of vitae as it erupted from his neck. Prudence kept her head low and broke into a low sprint, focusing to keep ther Beast in check.

Instinct (1) = 1 success.

Her fear is palpable but she knows that survival is a must. Yes, loyalty is also important, but this conflict was over as soon as it began. Prudence tries to think of this as loyalty to her ghouls and the greater Sabbat.

Path (5) = 3 successes.

In the heat of the moment she is able to hold on to her convictions and takes the opportunity to grab Erasmus as she flees. The priest was crouched over the head of the Brujah, having snatched it out of the air after it was torn free. Erasmus was whispering in its ear, pleading for advice on how to proceed in light of this new obstacle. He offered little resistance to Prudence grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and hauling him away from the ongoing massacre.

Are the lupines pursuing the van?

1d6 = 1. No and... they were opportunistic as opposed to actively stalking them prior to the attack.

As Gautier drives into the encroaching dawn he checks for pursuers non-stop. It doesn't look like the wolves are following them, but Prudence is all too aware of their tricks. She doesn't let Gautier ease up until the van is back at the rental garage, luckily just in time as the dawn is compelling Prudence and Erasmus into sleep. Prudence orders Gautier and Frances to take shifts on watch and then slips into daysleep.

The following evening she rises to find Erasmus deep in prayer, this is one of his nightly routines so Prudence tales some comfort in seeing this. She bides her time until he's finished before broaching the topic of next moves. She won't be bringing up the previous night until she's more certain of his mental state.

To be continued...