You can see a lot just by observing

— Y. Berra

In places where the masquerade is observed Isaac goes to extremes to appear to be one of the Kine. He will try to dress in a way that fits the normal person he is trying to seem to be, following the current fashion when appropriate. To a knowing observer, however, this illusion quickly breaks when Isaac encounters running water or when he smells garlic, only to be seamlessly re-established again once the dire thread has passed.

In the rare private setting where it is allowable to let the masquerade lapse, Isaac greatly prefers the red and black cloaks that vampires stereotypically wear. He is also much more likely to express his actual opinions about the way food ought to be treated.

Background

Isaac Franklin used to be a first year student before his Embrace. He already was a first year student for quite a few years now, but because his parents were not able to support him, he had to work various side jobs to keep ends tied together. What didn't help was his hobby of LARPing. Isaac is not very handy with a needle to say the least, so he had to buy all his costumes and equipment, which is Expensive for a student.

This year things finally started to pick up with Physics. He had already tried Chemistry, Sociology and Computer Science before, but those didn't work out so well. Moreover, Darkon was organizing a Halloween special near the rural town of Peru, which seemed like a great opportunity to learn about the troubles of the supernatural. He even managed to acquire a great vampire costume for relatively cheap.

After almost 50 years Dunstan finally had permission to procreate again. Well, it was to be expected, after switching from clan Malkavian to clan Tremere. Even with friends to smooth things over, he only really stopped sensing unease from his colleges in the labs some 10 years ago. Apparently the children of Malkav have a lot of bad reputation to break down.

Even now, he was asked to perform the Embrace somewhere remote, and then carefully judge if the Childe is suitable for clan Tremere before introducing him to other vampires. OK, that is fair, some of his siblings really would not fit in the almost corporate structure of the Tremere. And he heard a pack of Kine would be assembling in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't even really inconvenient.

Travel outside the cities is always a bit of a hassle, but at least if you can hear the Werewolves coming from miles away it is sort of safe. Safer than some New York neighbourhoods anyway. Upon arriving at his destination, he discovered that some unknown Elder had beaten him to the event. Except,... even Elders can't make their aura's look like those of the Kine. Well, if someone wants to be a vampire that badly, Dunstan would be happy to oblige.

At first Isaac was shocked to discover that there was an actual vampire among the role-players. Then Isaac was shocked to discover that vampires actually existed; and that this one was drinking his blood. At least he had done his research this time, so he knew what was awaiting him after the vampire drank all his blood. Well, the books failed to mention the pain, but that made sense, dying is not supposed to be a pleasant experience.

I was quite hungry directly after the Embrace, but that was easily resolved on a role play event with this theme. It is basically just a matter of isolating someone for a moment. You can even tell them you just drank their blood after licking their wounds closed and they will happily ask you how much damage they just took. That being said, it was really hard to stop myself in time with the first victim, but I felt I really couldn't deal with any competition with how hungry I was.

After the initial feeding frenzy, there was a time for explanations. I explained to my Sire why no-one was asking any difficult questions yet. He explained about the Maskerade, which is basically a worldwide LARP where everyone has to play a human, and about what it means to be a vampire. He also explained that, yes crosses can hurt vampires, but only when used by a really devout believer. He also tried flat out denying some other things, but then he also sometimes saw and heard things, so I'm not completely convinced he is sane.

This cost us most of the night. At around 5:00 my Sire told me to make most of the opportunity and feed up to prepare for the journey back to civilisation. He seemed to be doing the same. The next night confirmed most of suspicions. Dunstan is really seeing things, it hurts when you bump into a doorway and it is possible to convert a stream of water into a bunch of trickles by throwing a bunch of rocks in it. While this worked, it was also really scary because there still was streaming water everywhere. I also confirmed an idle remark from some high diver that it is basically impossible to tell the difference between streaming and still water from more than 50 ft. up.

After a journey of about a week we temporarily settled in a town to rest and do some training. Also the werewolves that picked up on our trail seemed unwilling to enter an area with this many Kine present. My Sire explained that it is also possible to partially seal the Kiss-wound, if you want your victim to remember the experience. However, if I fail to explain my target they should keep quiet about things, I would be out of options in this town. As it stands already barely enough people visit the alley to keep me fed. One or two violent muggings would only make matters worse.

After just not enough time, the whole alley situation started to become more dire. So Dunstan decided that I would have to work out the final few details without his permanent supervision. Of course, he would remain available for advise after moving to New York. Dunstan arranged for a car so we could drive by Peru to pick up my motor. I still remain amazed at how resistant motors are to vandalism. It still stood there, only being slightly dusty after all this time. It used to be my cheapest means to commute to my parents and to travel to LARP events. It now is my most reliable access to the high bridges. Unfortunately we couldn't visit my home since the university is in a Sabbath-controlled city.

Apparently the Tremere had also received a request from the Prince for some young vampires for some mission of some sort, so the Tremere where quite willing to arrange for injection for me, Dunstan and my motor.