Big blood bags from the bank: I drink that.
Rancid old blood: I spit that!
My Little Pony: I watch that!
OHHHHHHHHHHHH
Alright alright check me out.
Pale, Suck, Spell.
Call me Pale Suck Spell Vamp.
Need to feed to not end up dead on the street,
Cause I've rancid blood, boiiii!
OHHH!
Alright imma end this man's whole career.
Watch this.
Boom
Bam
Bop
Bippity Boo Bop.
Pow.
As far as cat vs dog... blood bonds are a Thing, and Morgan runs a blood strategy that works them pretty hard, and double-dips on the loyalty aspect by trying to make them relationships that work independently, rather than forcing the blood bond itself to bear the load. Morgan plays the cat well enough, but they are not by any stretch a loner. I can pretty much guarantee that the Loyalty Given For Loyalty Received paradigm gives them warm fuzzies and helps them feel secure. That's a dog person right there.
Can dogs be blood bound? I'd bet that somewhere along the way, Morgan has tried.
Off topic for MorganQuest, but doesn't Tempest have like, 5 members that we know of so far? (Not including the doctor guy)
Seems kinda unbalanced, unless you mean Rhi's allies too.
Considering Rhi is a runaway, she might have dabbled in a bit of rapping. You know, "screw the rules! I do what I want!"
As far as cat vs dog... blood bonds are a Thing, and Morgan runs a blood strategy that works them pretty hard, and double-dips on the loyalty aspect by trying to make them relationships that work independently, rather than forcing the blood bond itself to bear the load. Morgan plays the cat well enough, but they are not by any stretch a loner. I can pretty much guarantee that the Loyalty Given For Loyalty Received paradigm gives them warm fuzzies and helps them feel secure. That's a dog person right there.
Can dogs be blood bound? I'd bet that somewhere along the way, Morgan has tried.
Would blood bonding an animal even work? Would the bond allow both to telepathically communicate, and so doggos can talk to their (undead) owners at last?
I think Morgan is unlikely to be a "dog person", if only because they have not been particularly enthusiastic about either the McClelland dog or the Henderson dog. Like, I personally prefer cats to dogs and I still react with an inner "yay doggie!" when I see one, while Morgan's reaction has been "remember not to eat the family dog" and "this is inconvenient." Yes, Morgan gathers a pack of humans around them, but that doesn't translate to "they will also gather a pack of dogs".
I feel like they'd be more likely to keep a cat, if only because cats don't require a schedule -- you don't have to Be There three times a day at 6AM/Noon/6PM in order to feed and walk the cat. Also, cats are fastidious and will not get mud all over your clothes if you cuddle them. Morgan dislikes mess and could use some cuddling. c_c
But my main thought is "cat vs dog person is a false dichotomy." Any pets in Morgan's house are going to be under the care of Morgan's humans. If their humans want dogs, they can have dogs. If they want cats, they can have cats. If they want snakes/mice/gerbils/ferrets/etc., sure, fine. Morgan's requirement would not be by species, but by manners: pets should be well-behaved and not make a mess of their home.
Off topic for MorganQuest, but doesn't Tempest have like, 5 members that we know of so far? (Not including the doctor guy)
Seems kinda unbalanced, unless you mean Rhi's allies too.
Considering Rhi is a runaway, she might have dabbled in a bit of rapping. You know, "screw the rules! I do what I want!"
I feel like they'd be more likely to keep a cat, if only because cats don't require a schedule -- you don't have to Be There three times a day at 6AM/Noon/6PM in order to feed and walk the cat.
I don't know what kind of dogs you've been dealing with, but If you have an outside dog or a dog door, you don't have to walk them at all, and there's a decent number of dogs for whom "put food and water in the bowls at some point once per day" is plenty.
On the other hand, I think your broader point rings true for me. Morgan keeps humans as pets. They're *much* more useful than dogs or cats. Why would Morgan waste time or emotional energy on a dog or a cat?
I don't know what kind of dogs you've been dealing with, but If you have an outside dog or a dog door, you don't have to walk them at all, and there's a decent number of dogs for whom "put food and water in the bowls at some point once per day" is plenty.
On the other hand, I think your broader point rings true for me. Morgan keeps humans as pets. They're *much* more useful than dogs or cats. Why would Morgan waste time or emotional energy on a dog or a cat?
"No. Absolutely not. There's nothing about this week I would ever change."
"I'm so happy to hear that," you say sweetly. "I certainly agree. The zombies are so restful, don't you think?"
"They definitely add an ambiance."
"Eau de corpse."
"You're in a good mood. Busy night?"
"Mhmm… lots of magic."
You sit on the low stone wall around your terrace, waving him to sit. He does so, deliberately at his ease.
"Like what?"
"I gave the Center for Disease Control and something called… what was it. The OHRP? Office of Human Research Protections, which sounds deeply legitimate… in any case, I demonstrated how to cure a bite wound and how to ward a building against zombies for their cameras."
"Huh."
While he's thinking about this, you steal his mug of coffee and take a judicious sip. No one likes blood breath.
"Give that back," he orders, and you comply with a smile. "You think you're funny," he adds.
"If I'm lucky. I understand that you're a dog person, but I hope we can live in harmony."
"She's not going to attack you."
"Not quite what I meant, but thank you, that's reassuring. In any case, have you heard of that government department before?"
"I heard some rumors about some trouble in New York City a few years back. Someone blew up a lab. Never did get a clear answer what happened or who blew it up."
"Probably someone was experimenting with dark forces beyond human ken. That's usually the problem."
"You don't say." He tilts his head pointedly at the pile of zombie corpses still decorating your front lawn.
"Someone is going to deal with those, I hope."
"Claudia is planning to use the truck to haul them someplace a little less likely to contaminate the ground water. If things are quiet, maybe the hospital morgue – that is the building you warded?"
"Yes indeed. It seemed appropriate."
"So… how many of these spells are doable by someone without an ancient vampire's reserves of power?"
You wrinkle your nose.
"I'll have you know, I'm working on a very low budget at the moment. I might track down these werewolves by scent, not by divination, even. It's highly primitive."
Bruce drinks some more of his coffee, and you study the ever-so-slightly lightening sky. The earliest birds of the dawn chorus have woken up and started their morning chorus of 'hey, this is my tree!' and 'have sex with me!'
"How close to the edge are you?" Bruce asks.
"About as close as any vampire that feeds on animal blood regularly would be. Speaking of, there are two such in town. Know anything about them?"
"They must be new. Since my retirement, that is. Trouble?"
"Oh, probably. Everything seems to be trouble lately. But it should be trouble on my plate, not yours. You can just worry about the zombies."
"Thanks," he says sourly. "Help me hang these up, will you? We'll have to borrow the neighbor's fridge, at this rate."
"What do you refrigerate deer for?"
"Aging the meat. Freeze, for parasites."
"Huh."
Just another little thing that's changed.
"Do not bring more until we've had a chance to deal with these."
"Yes, yes. If you have too much meat, we can share with someone."
"Invite the alpha over for a barbeque," Bruce suggests. "He's alright, if it's the same one. Clemente Santoro. He teaches high school gym."
"We'll see."
You look around, thinking about all the things that are still to do, and wonder aloud, "Is Collins going to turn up to contest your use of that truck?"
Bruce snorts.
"Maybe as a zombie. He and the rest of the boys you met are dead."
"Ah. It's too bad about the young men."
"It is."
You both silently agree that you couldn't care less about Collins being eaten. Bruce finishes his coffee.
"Come on," Bruce says, and you spend a few minutes hauling deer and helping him hang them suitably for meat preparation. You haven't been involved in butchery in a few centuries, but it seems to have gotten more complicated somewhere along the way.
[]You'll find the werewolves by scent tracking.
-[]You'll follow the werewolf's trail heading north.
-[]You'll backtrack the werewolf's trail south.
[]You'll use divination to find the werewolves. (1 power)
-[]You'll divine the location of the young werewolf you met.
-[]You'll divine the location of the alpha, Clemente.
[]Write-in
Yay new post. I feel like we should use scent tracking, not divination, conserve power. Choosing between North vs South seems like a coinflip to me, so I wont vote on that yet.
I loved this scene. It felt like they were "buisness only" only outwardly, the initial little bit of banter really made the rest much more lighthearted than it could have been. Bruce is pretty quickly getting used to seeing us as his ally, i think.
Regarding the wolves, I don't know if Bruce has a phone number or knows the location of Santoro's house; I think he'd have volunteered the information if he had that much. What's more, the current write-in sounds like we would be asking Bruce for him to "take care of it", which is not at all our goal. Maybe modify it to:
[X] Ask Bruce if he knows Santoro's phone number or where to find him, if not
-[X]You'll find the werewolves by scent tracking.
--[X]You'll follow the werewolf's trail heading north.
By the way, @Wysteria , how long would a divination ritual to find the alpha take?
