Several good comments in this latest batch.
c3p0 I don't think this is 6 pages
The fight....
It will be a big bad assed fur ball in my opinion. Ereskigal will not directly be involved, she will invoke her bloodline powers and force the Nos to turn on the Scottstown crew. There might be some extras in that battle, as Virgil could be in town. Eloise is in town. Malia and Glitter could well be in town, Glitter is for sure...I think it is safe to assume Fabian is gone, and Cindy, Astrid (if you gave her up) and Calisto of course. So it could quite literally be the Nos against all others, or the Nos and add ons against all the Scottstown crew. I think there is a small chance that Frank and Merrick might fight for the Scottstown crew, but I would not want to bet on it.
I am leaning against a direct intervention by Virgil unless he sees a value in saving the MC's life, which I do not think he really does except for the possibility of exposing Calisto again. He could have other agents in town though, we shall see I guess.
Scottstown crew is going to get it's ass kicked. That means deaths.- Laurie is definitely going to die in this. Will she be brought back by Sharon? That goes back to the variable we keep discussing. I think that Laurie going down is going to shred the MC mentally and emotionally, and he is definitely going to get more soul stain if you have developed his powers properly. Truthfully I think it will be a pretty powerful moment that is going to reveal to any survivors just how big a deal Calisto and her childer are. Think is in the middle of this fight, if he opens the power of speed/celerity up. Add that to Claws, Invisibility, Vicious Strength, Whispers, his obvious psychic visions, his heightened senses.... he is going to be a nightmare.
I could be completely wrong.... The MC might not do any of the above. If he has not gotten the powers, then he will use the dagger. A smarter move for him is to give the dagger to Sharon, and use his powers.
Sharon will be taken out of the fight if she has a high SharonSavesLaurie score. She will be saving Laurie.
Andrew is going to kill shit until he goes down... that could happen. Think of the cost to Sharon if she has to choose to save Laurie due to her love of the MC, or Andrew her friend and faithful servant.
Ivy is not going to be much help I am thinking... probably in shock at seeing all the crazy shit.
If Frank and Merrick switch sides then it would still be poor odds. If they don't then it is going to basically be Andrew and the MC breaking bad. That is my bet.
Outline of fights in Rebirth-
1- The woods. Something brushed past Sharon and nearly killed her, forcing her to feed on the MC's blood. This was planned and the thing was most likely Calisto herself as she has the most skill and control over her powers and could scrape Sharon and put her down. Now Sharon is probably unnaturally tough, like a Fortitude power, which would fit what I believe her VtM clan equivalent is, which is Ventrue. She has Presence, some increased senses, and her Domination (eyes) thing.
2- Feral Nos. I believe the Feral Nos was the last survivor from the bunker, and served as a blood slave for Ereshkigal until she was driven insane, which cost her a lot of her powers, and drove her to that feral state. I think she was Markus' sire.
3- Hunters vs MC. Hunters lost either due to you developing your powers and beating their asses, or Andrew rescuing you.
4- Merrick's ill fated attempt to attack the MC. Vicious Strength is a bitch.
5- This update. I "Think" this will be all the Nos vs basically Andrew, Laurie, Sharon and the MC. Ivy probably not a combat monster in the least, though she was sensitive to the presence in the cave.... that does make her interesting.
6- Virgil vs Calisto round 2. Probably epic. Probably lots of fatalities. Not Calisto. Not the MC. Could have some initial smackdowns on Marcius by the MC, which would be satisfying.
7- Ereshkigal rising- blood bath
8- Inanna rising- blood bath
(7 and 8 ideally would occur roughly at the same time, or it will not be pretty... well fuck that, it is not going to be pretty regardless lol)
9- The sisters duke it out. All bets are off on survivors..... (Calisto, MC, Sharon, Carmen, Laurie, Ivy, and all the mortals, Fabian,Cindy, Roland, and all the Archons, are all on the block.... who knows who lives)
Change of topic.....
Sharon has the wrong view of ghouls/thralls. Yes Andrew is in fact stronger than a normal human and functions as the mule quite often. He is also a veteran of WW2 based on age calculations and his military knowledge and weapon skills.
He is not more powerful than Laurie.
Laurie already has heightened senses, several examples of that, and yes, Andrew wear sunglasses at night, but if he had Auspex like powers it would not impede him. Laurie is stronger than her build would otherwise indicate. She is also probably more durable.
She has high intuition which likely comes from the visionary gene if you want to call it that. She also has been fed more frequently than Andrew during the course of the story. Sharon starves him to try and keep him as human and independent as possible, but he is lacking in many powers he could have picked up in 70 years of service.
Some morons have tried to attribute various kinks to the story, because they refuse to understand the explanations or just are not getting it. This is a story about vampires and a war between two big bloodlines, with some extras thrown in. It is not written as a sex novel. Never has been the intent.
Misogyny is not present except in certain characters. They two most powerful vampires in the game (and contenders for the world) are females. Carmen, who would have been useful to bring, is a strong female, and I am betting, she becomes the MC's childe. Sharon is nominally in charge of Scottstown, even though we know that the MC really is. There are several powerful women in this novel, and it bears repeating Calisto, Inanna, Ereshkigal, are women, and are the top 3 powers in this game.
To address the wouldn't it be great if Laurie was XYZ, well, yeah it would be better for her in all likelihood to remain the ghoul/thrall of the MC for a long time instead of being a relatively weaker bloodline's vampire...... It would be cool if I could find the USB key I have 1000 bitcoins on too.... but too many moves and that fucker was lost. Laurie will either die, or she will be Sharon's childe. I am betting all my gonads on that.
I predict that no matter how this fight plays out, there will be people who want to argue about it.
I am good with that, as long as it stays civil. Through civil disagreement we might refine the theories about where we are going.
Just do this please, REALLY, please at least read the story, go to the VtM wiki and read the synopsis, look up ancient Greek and Sumerian mythology, if you really want to try and tear down the plot lines we are all working on trying to figure out. Those sources will at least let you make intelligent additions to the conversation.
Peace