#vtmpok arundel

[lots-of-little-pink-clouds]

So Ward did have ulterior motives for becoming friendly w/ Madelaine. And naturally, it has to do w/ Arundel.

Ward loves the guy, so of course he isn't willing to give up looking for him. Sevinc convinced him to forget about it for a short while, but when they arrived in Waterloo and saw that Madelaine was there, it made Ward want to try one last time.

Madelaine was hesitant about Ward's overtures of friendship but ended up giving in. They spent a few months helping Zaslow's Anarchs and getting to know each other. Eventually, Ward asks Madelaine to partner w/ him on a scouting mission.

Now Madelaine, who usually partners w/ Kashif or her adopted childe Derick, is suspicious. Zaslow typically leaves it up to the Anarchs to arrange themselves into teams and Ward usually groups up w/ Sevinc and Hauberk. It was especially strange that Ward only wanted Madelaine to go w/ him, to Sevinc's obvious disapproval.

(Sevinc, of course, knew what Ward was planning. She tried to convince him not to go through w/ it, but Ward does what he wants)

B/c of this, Madelaine has a feeling that Ward is up to something. Despite that, she decides to trust him (only up to a point though, see below). By now, they're somewhat friends, and also, she couldn't see any reason for him to screw her over.

But still. Months w/ the Anarchs taught Madelaine a few things. As a result, she's become more cagey and a bit cynical. So she goes to the one person she trusts most at the moment: Kashif. She lets him know that something is up and promises to fill him in on the situation when she and Ward get back.

(She and Kashif have a whole back-and-forth about it, Kashif even offering to follow at a distance, but Madelaine doesn't want to cause any problems b/n him and Zaslow. Zaslow doesn't really run a tight ship (that's Anarchs for you), but Kashif being gone for too long w/o notice could hurt his standing. And depending on what Ward wants, she wants at least one of them to still be on Zaslow's good side)

Once she and Ward leave however, Ward fills her in on what he hopes to achieve. And Madelaine, who deeply regrets not looking for Arundel, agrees to help.

(How could she not? It's Arundel, practically her father figure)

Even so, what happens if they do find Arundel? Zaslow may think well of Ward, but there is no way in hell he would call off the assault on Ottawa, not now that they have come so far.

When they get to the villa, not much changes from the events of the game. The only difference is that Trevor Haidt isn't alone - the Quebec Tremere planned on moving Arundel back to Quebec City, so there are a couple mortal guards w/ him to ensure the job goes smoothly. But after Trevor and the mortals are dealt w/, Madelaine and Ward get into the villa's basement and find him. Arundel.

Naturally they free him, how could they not?

After explaining everything, Arundel is willing to welcome them both back into the Camarilla. There's no question in his mind about accepting Ward. He missed his old friend (and lover).

Arundel is also extremely proud of Madelaine. She might have arrived later than he expected, but she still came. And after hearing that she and Kashif killed Corliss, he especially admires her for her initiative and loyalty.

But nothing is ever simple.

The Camarilla is barely holding itself together under Vivian's leadership and Baron Zaslow is almost ready to attack Ottawa. Archon Durand stuck around and is prepping the city's defenses - the Anarchs haven't been subtle - while at the same time accumulating power for her own gain.

Also, Ward and Madelaine (and also Kashif, although not many are aware that he survived the Tremere Blood Hunt) were declared persona non grata, so there's no way the Camarilla would accept them back w/o reason.

So Arundel starts plotting. And just like w/ Corliss, Madelaine plays an important role.

[robotslenderman]

Playing PoK as Sullivan.

Cynthia knew from the start that something shifty was up.

Sullivan? No thoughts. Head empty. Ward goes "you're being manipulated!" and Sullivan goes "no shit, is there anyone who isn't?" and then goes back to ignoring it. Too busy trying to shoot Ward in the face to give a fuck. Strange memory loss surrounding his Embrace? Meh! Who cares? Prince is missing? He's the Prince! he does what the fuck he wants! he's probably fucked off for an impromptu caper, what's the big deal?

Sullivan can be silly but he's not usually a complete idiot like this

[nightingaletrash]

Okay, I think I'm gonna stick with Qui's romance as canon for Khalia, while still working in some aspects of Jordan's route because I love Khalia and Jordan being besties 😌

Cue post-game movie night at Jordan's. Khalia invites Qui along, and Jordan decides 'hey let's invite Lucca too!' Arundel finds out and invites himself and Ward. Meanwhile Lucca invites Kashif because 'you're friends with Khalia, it'll be fine, besides she owes you for saving her life' and so Kashif invites Ophelia. Gerard comes along too because Khalia insists that he deserves the night off after everything that's happened.

Khalia only pays attention to the horror movie, otherwise she and Qui are preoccupied with cuddling and pda. Unless it's an action/cop drama of some sort, in which case Qui will be criticising the shit out of it and saying 'that's not how that would play out in real life.' Gerard often agrees with him and criticises the movie criminals for being inefficient idiots. Suddenly everyone remembers that this man was a soldier in a criminal syndicate once upon a time.

Ophelia correctly predicts the plottwist everytime to the point that everyone knows she's spoiling it on purpose. Jordan spoils it on accident because he gets caught up in the input from his visions and doesn't realise that they've not reached that point in the movie. Only one of them is apologetic and its not Ophelia.

Lucca is either praising or dunking on every single film, from the cinematography to the costuming choices. She had a ten minute rant over how a particular style of dress straight up didn't exist for over a century after the period setting of the movie.

Kashif doesn't care for any film that defaults to Islamaphobia, and neither does Khalia. The moment it happens, they both lose all investment and everyone usually agrees to move on to the next movie. He has a lot more to say on the spy movies and that the assassins are stupid for letting themselves get spotted. They should have just gone for the kill instead of standing there like an idiot.

Arundel knows way too much about brains when the horror movies are on and everyone else silently agrees to never watch the Brain That Wouldn't Die with him. Lucca owes Ward ten bucks for shutting Arundel up with a makeout session.

[robotslenderman]

Cynthia, my Arundel loyalist who beheaded an Archon in front of a room full of Camarilla elders so he wouldn't have to watch his boyfriend die, isn't sure whether to be scared of or horny for Arundel.

[nightingaletrash]

Grace: *manipulates Khalia into isolating herself from her family, making her death easy to cover up, was going to sacrifice her to the Sabbat*

Corliss: *puts Khalia through gruelling training that is downright cruel in order to sufficiently harden her, keeps trying to get her killed and frames her as an Anarch when that fails*

Arundel: *literally alters Khalia's mind, making her forget much of her past and uses her as his insurance against Corliss' inevitable betrayal, still the least awful by far*

Khalia: the fact I'm even slightly stable after being raised by you three is a miracle

[nightingaletrash]

some more Khalia - I did Qui’s romance, and at this point it’s safe to say that after years of paperwork, she’s eager to get into some trouble ;)

[robotslenderman]

PoK spoilers:

idk why Arundel didn't prefer Mithras to Valerius, considering he gets along with the Tremere just as well.

[robotslenderman]

Honestly I think it's hilarious that Sullivan is, well, like the way he is. Because he doesn't have anyone close to him in Ottawa, he never ends up showing that goofball side, and certainly not to Corliss.

So I'm just imagining the complete hilarity that is Sullivan completely flying under the radar until PoK happens, only for him to suddenly show up after nearly twenty years as Arundel's fucking Seneschal

In Sullivan's PoK AU:

Hesitate still Millicent's childe. At some point after Millicent goes AWOL, Kara goes to do her own thing and before he meets Evie, Sullivan and Amicia are in NYC visiting the Vykosoviches and end up with a high paying job that goes to the border. As Amicia has been gaining more independence they elect for her to stay behind and see how she does on her own for a bit, while Sullivan nips up to Canada. At the border he finds another high paying job - they need a courier to deliver something to Ottawa, but that means going through Montreal, aka Sabbat territory. Lasombra Sullivan is like "lol, free money" and grabs it.

He never comes back.

Poor bugger ends up like the Inquisitor - just casually walks the fuck in on that diablerie, realises what's going on in front of him, and is like "ah, fuck, nope" and tries to GTFO. Unfortunately Eden trips him up with shadow tentacles and is just about to finish him when Arundel sees this opportunity and POUNCES. After learning that Sullivan is Lasombra and that he's just some America-based courier no one is likely to miss, Arundel installs him as Eden's childe.

Arundel takes a few minutes to cover Sullivan's tracks just in case, so by the time the Vykosoviches start getting worried and make inquiries, the trail only goes as far as the border - to them, it looks like he never made it that far, let alone them finding out about the Ottawa job. To them, he just vanishes into thin air. Just like Millicent.