Jan 23 09:24:02 109 PA - An Old Soldier Meets an Old and Informed Woman

From Chronicles

Jan 23 09:24:02 109 PA.

MRS. RICKERD'S HOUSE

Lavish is the ideal word for this home. Indeed it is a firm example that though money can't buy one happiness, it can certainly make life very convenient. There is even a personal servant or maid to tend to the aging Lady Rickerd, a bright young girl looking to be halfway through some sort of college. Her average frame and simple brown hair help her to be inconspicuous as any other piece of furniture. Her uniform topping the image. And indeed, most of the furniture is more unique and interesting the most people at first glance. She leads you politely to Mrs. Rickerd, formally introducing you and showing you to a chair. Mrs. Rickerd sits ahead in a large swivel chair behind an antique oak desk. Both furnishings dwarf the older woman, making a clear possibility that she inherited the seat from her husband some time past. Mrs. Rickerd dresses herself much like her house, clearly a woman of image and impression, wearing choice items of jewelry and antiquity to make her status very clear.

Gabriel had made sure upon entry to the house that all snow and rain was off of his body, not tracked in on boots or on the greatcoat that now hangs over his left arm. Eyes take in the interesting architecture and decor, but he does little more than offer friendly conversation until he meets Lady Rickerd herself. As she seems to be waiting for him to make the first move, he offers a short bow. "Good evening, ma'am. Thank you for seeing me." He pauses, knowing that names are already known. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Save me the blind sympathy, you know nothing about my loss other than it inconvenienced you as well." Mrs Rickerd snaps back venomously, shaking her head. "I know what you want. And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Stacy, nothing good comes of tickling a tiger."

"I do know the loss of a child, ma'am. Many times over." Gabriel dips his head, saying his peace quietly and with what respect he can. "Can you tell me if Tim's work for the council was tied into anything that Stacy asked him - or both of you - to do?"

Mrs Rickerd shakes her head again. "I lost a fool, and all the resources I had invested in that court jester my late husband sired. And what for? Because a charity worker couldn’t mind her own business. I told her when she turned to the dregs that it was going to be a slow arduous process. That often she'd seem to be losing ground, not gaining it. I was ignored like a withered old crone. And though I may look the part, I know exactly how things work in this city. It played out just as I told her it would. As for Tim, I got him into the council to keep him out of trouble. To keep his hands clean in hope I might get a return some day."

Gabriel listens intently, nodding in places. "I see. So Tim's work was nothing other than busy work? He had no voice with anyone, and there was no one important who listened? I'm sure that your advice was sound; I saw the girl run off without thinking, half-cocked to get her business done. Perhaps I saw two sides to her. How did someone like her meet your son?"

"He hadn’t yet learned he might have a voice somewhere. I was introducing him to politics via immersion. And the instrument of their meeting may as well been fate, or dumb luck. Surely she saw him on a visit to me, and one thing led to another. By the time I learned of it it was too late." Mrs. Rickered explains with another shake of her head. "Do you know what I was doing for her?"

"No, no I don't. In fact to be honest, she never spoke of you. I didn't even know of Tim until his end. I'd be very interested in what you were doing for her," Gabriel says evenly. "I would wonder too what your advice to Stacy might have been, on how to handle the 'Dregs, as well."

"I was handling the dregs for her actually. The Family specifically. My money was paying to see that she operated unmolested so long as she didn’t pick any fights. Apparently that clause was flawed." Mrs. Rickered explains, her expressions starting to take a more positive light. "So you are here to gain what she had. The question is, do you have what she lacked?"

Gabriel chuckles. "I'm not here to gain what she had, necessarily. I'm here because I believe that I can help her cause. Your name was given to me as a contact - so I find myself here. As for my personal qualifications? I would say yes to your question, but without knowing more about her, I can't say what it is exactly where she was left wanting. If I'm successful, my 'vision' if you will doesn't have me making all of the decisions. Administration through being advised by specialists." A short shift of his body pauses for another question. "I know - or I firmly believe - that the Family was working with the vampires at the Ivory Lady, offering them the human trafficking that kept them going until they changed providers. Are you saying that Stacy was aware of this arrangement that she seemed to be trying to fight at the same time?"

"Of course she was, one of her people came up short and got sold. Then sold again and drained dry. But that is hardly current, and certainly not relevant. The Family was trafficking to the Lady because they could. They were a ready solution to debts that might otherwise take months to pay if they got payed at all. Donna payed upfront without hesitation. Of course the Family accepted. But it didn’t erase what Donna did before that. The fact she killed the Family's master vampire and hijacked the rest to take over the lady, and shortly there after became a master vampire herself. They don’t like people messing with their power base. Donna maimed it." Mrs Rickerd explains.

That information certainly gives Gabriel pause. All of it. He attempts to focus on what he believes is most relevant, though he's still quite surprised. "Ah.. the Family was run by a.. master vampire? Then Donna came out of nowhere, took over the club and built a power-base. Then basically destroyed the Family as an entity?" He holds up a hand. "Please forgive me for repeating what you've said, but this is very, very new and important information that I've never even guessed at, and I want to make sure I'm understanding it fully."

Mrs Rickered shakes her head. "Not run by, they had one and 10 subordinate vampires in their employ. Donna came in as some sort of vampire priest. Some devout to their god and started telling the master he had to get out from under the Family's thumb. When he wouldn’t, she took his place and did it herself." She clarifies succinctly. "The Family is far from destroyed but did lose a lot of muscle in that. Muscle that isn’t easy to replace on that caliber."

The older man, but younger person in the room nods. "I see. So she's a master vampire, but with some kind of twist. These ten subordinates, are they the ones who are now her supporters and hangers-on?" Gabriel then asks, "Stacy knew all of this, but went ahead with her actions anyway? Foolish, or foolhardy."

"Passionate. Love is like that sometimes. Maybe she didn’t expect to come out of the visit sane. Maybe she wanted what they did to her, as a means to live with herself for her mistakes. Really you'd have to ask her for that answer. I can only speculate." Mrs. Rickered corrects, before raising a sole finger for a very special point. "Yes, when they defected she had ten. But she only has lodging for 3 and herself. Leaving the rest to fend for themselves. The Family learned this and has been keeping her down to that minimum vigilantly."

"Really! That make sense, with what I think I know - that they live within the walls of the club. Not that there couldn't be a pipe leading a mile away." Gabriel takes time to allow for a long inhale and an equally long exhale. "I have to say that makes me feel better about the odds of eradicating the infection. If the Family owned the club, would they presumably know of its construction? Or if a person such as myself were to approach them with a plan, would they offer foot soldiers?" He holds up a hand and apologizes. "I'm sorry, I know you're not their spokeswoman. But have you had any contact with them since Donna's coup d'état?"

Mrs. Rickerd smirks. "Might be hope for you yet. I have maintained my connections with the Family, good for business as they are likely to deal with Donna eventually. If you want I can arrange a meeting, and you can see about being their instrument to deal with her sooner rather than later. I'm sure it will buy you a great deal of credit for your other interests as well."

Gabriel offers a low but very sincere bow and smile. "Thank you, Lady Rickerd. That would help the cause immeasurably, I'm sure. I'd be quite grateful for the meeting and introduction. Can you tell me exactly what Stacy's grand plan was, originally? The one that you advised her on? Obviously the meeting with the Family is of great import, but knowing why all of this began in the first place can be important as well." His eyes and ears are very open now, as this meeting has taken him in directions that he never would have imagined.

"Grand plan? To heal the dregs. To convert that realm of squalor and misery to a place with a future and dreams." Mrs. Rickerd answers with a dismissive shrug. "A fantasy that won't come true in my lifetime I'm sure, but if I was you that wouldn’t be much of a deterrent."

"No, no. I'm sure I'm still too trusting, not ready to leave it be," Gabriel smirks slightly. "I think that I've probably taken up as much time as you have information for me. But if you have anything further, I'd be quite grateful. The source of her zombie-making psi-cola remains a mystery to me."

"The Federation of Magic. Everyone ought to know that. A shifter could deliver as much as she wants right to the basement at any time. All she has to do is pay the bill. Which she does. Really no way to interrupt that exchange." Mrs. Rickerd notes, concluding that’s where that line was going. "Go now, it is time for my bath." She decrees, and her maid materializes from the background beside Gabriel to show him out.