In Hushed Whispers Scene Summary

Scene Summary: In Hushed Whispers

In Hushed Whispers
Chronicle	DC Chronicle
Game Date	November 16, 2015
Real Date	November 28 - December 3, 2015
Characters	Cohn Rose Helena Taylor Kevin Canterbury Lily Trevelyan Ralph Norrington Ray Ridgeworth Victor Carewe
Locations	Washington Chantry
Previous Scene	None
Next Scene	Assemble the Players (Helena, Lily) Regrets of the Dying (Kevin) Baby Boot Camp (Victor)
Content Warnings	None
Original Scene	In Hushed Whispers

In Hushed Whispers is a scene from the DC Chronicle featuring Helena Taylor, Kevin Canterbury, Lily Trevelyan, and Victor Carewe, with cameo appearances by Cohn Rose, Ralph Norrington, and Ray Ridgeworth. It depicts Lily arriving in DC and being taken in as the newest member of the Washington Chantry.

Scene Summary

Lily gets out of a taxi and is intimidated by the Washington Chantry house as she walks up to it, drinking Starbucks coffee. She is carrying all her possessions in a messenger bag and is wearing a large pair of noise-canceling headphones. She knocks on the door and then sits down on the stoop.

Inside, Helena is excited by a new arrival to the chantry and goes over her checklist of all the preparations she has made for Lily, including setting up her room, sending ancillae doing experiments elsewhere so they won't frighten her, and informing Marcus Vitel that they will need an introduction soon. She hears the knock on the door and also feels that someone is there through her Thaumaturgy wards, and waves at Victor until he answers the door.

Victor opens the door and welcomes Lily, who is startled and misidentifies him as a butler. She asks if she is in the right place and finds a slip of paper to show him with Helena's name on it. Victor ushers her inside and Helena hears the security system turn back on behind her. Victor conducts Lily to Helena's office, where Helena excitedly cleans her desk and then gets up to offer a handshake, welcoming Lily to the chantry. She asks what Lily wants to do, but is too excited to wait for an answer and begins talking about things happening at the chantry. Lily is overwhelmed and asks for coffee or tea, thinking that she did not expect friendliness after her unknown sire mostly ignored her in London. She recalls him telling her to find Helena, saying that she would take care of her, and asks if she can lie down as she is tired from her journey.

Helena cheerfully sends Victor to make them tea and comes around the desk to pull Lily to a chair, listing her positions and offering any help that Lily might need. She gives Lily the binder she has been working on, telling her that it is starter information to help her settle into DC, assuming that Lily will read it right away. Lily is intimidated by the amount of reading and asks if she is the only student here, as well as asking about what a Primogen is and again expressing a desire to sleep. Helena is surprised by Lily's ignorance and retrieves another binder for her about the basics of being a vampire, explaining that she can no longer sleep at night and that Helena is the head of the clan, so Lily can come to her for anything.

Lily is disgruntled by yet another thing that she can no longer do after her Embrace and asks if it's normal not to know who her sire was, adding that he told her he had many childer. Helena privately suspects she knows who the sire was, but tells Lily that they will learn about her lineage later. Lily asks if they sleep in coffins and Helena laughs, telling her that Victor will show her to her bedroom after they have tea. When Helena asks if Lily has any other beginner questions, Lily asks if Helena needs her to do anything and if there is a library, becoming excited to hear that there is one but dismayed when Helena tells her that the libraries are dangerous.

Victor arrives with a tray bearing many varieties of tea and Helena and Lily both have some while Helena brings Lily up to speed on what is going on in the chantry, most of which she does not understand. Helena sends Victor to show Lily to her room and walks with them, reassuring an impressed Lily that Victor is safe to be around but distracted as her Thaumaturgy warns her something has gone wrong downstairs where the ancillae are practicing their rituals. She tells Lily to relax in her new bedroom and asks one more time if she has any questions, offending Lily who tells her that she everything is new to her and she hasn't had time to even learn what she doesn't know.

Helena encourages Lily, telling Victor to find Kevin and have him handle the problems downstairs, and warns Lily that if she sees Kevin she should run away from him and lock herself in her room. She goes back downstairs, leaving Lily to grumble about being trated like a child. After drinking tea and poking at her fangs, Lily cannot figure out how to retract them again and leaves her bedroom to look for Helena, only to run into Kevin, who has been waiting outside her door after hearing Helena warn her about him.

Lily is both frightened of Kevin and attracted to him, stammering an attempt to explain her problem. He offers to help, putting his finger into Lily's mouth to show her how to retract her fangs, while Lily hyperventilates from the intimate contact. Kevin tells her that they would have been in a lot of trouble if she'd bitten him, and when Lily asks if he wants to spend time together, says that he would like to but needs to get back to work, alluding to the situation downstairs. He is externally polite but internally mocks Helena and hopes to someday make her unhappy. Lily is sad to be rejected and says that she is not special, to which Kevin replies that everyone in the chantry is special before leaving.

Lily calls for Helena, who comes back upstairs to see how she's doing, assuming that Lily has already finished her reading. Victor follows her with a platter carrying more tea. Lily explains that someone helped her with her teeth and asks why Helena didn't tell her there was a man living here, prompting Helena to explain that as Tremere they all live together in the chantry house. Helena tries to figure out who Lily met, going through the list of other vampires in the building, but is horrified when Lily tells her that it was Kevin, who she wants to know more about. Helena tells Lily that she does not want to meet Kevin, but Lily repeatedly asks what's so wrong with him, getting only vague answers in return. Helena instead tells her about a Toreador party the next night to which she plans to take her, making Lily nervous about meeting more vampires.

When Lily persists in asking about Kevin, Helena explains that due to chantry and clan rules she cannot ask him to leave, wondering if Lily is psychically sensitive and somehow affected by Kevin's proximity. Helena hopes out loud that Kevin dies in a tragic accident and firmly redirects Lily back to reading her binders, adding that she will make sure that Kevin doesn't bother her. Uncomfortably reminded of chatty relatives, Lily acquiesces and retreats back into her room.

Lily thinks back to her few days with her unknown sire, during which time he instructed her to buy anything she wanted online so that he could pay for it and ship it to DC for her. She remembers asking him questions only to be told that he will take care of everything, and agrees when he asks her to trust him. Lily then plugs in her phone to play some music and lies down on the bed, beginning to read Helena's binders.

Script Summary

The script summary for this scene pares it down to only dialogue and action directions, allowing for a quicker and easier read through what was actually said and done by the characters. Click on the "Expand" tag to the right to view the entire script summary for this scene.

In Hushed Whispers Script Summary

Lily approaches the Washington Chantry after getting out of a taxi. She is wearing a large pair of noise-canceling headphones and carrying a messenger bag and a to-go cup of coffee. She knocks on the front door and then sits down on the stoop. Inside, Helena hears the knock and waves Victor to go answer the door.

VICTOR: Welcome. Please, come in.

LILY: Uh, is this the right house? My... sire or whatever said I should come here. I'm looking for, uh--shit, let me just get the paper out of my pocket--

She fishes in her pockets and drinks from the coffee.

LILY: --Helena. Is... she around?

Victor nods.

VICTOR: Please, come in.

He steps aside as Lily passed and closes the front door. Helena finishes the binder she is working on and puts it away, shuffling items around on her desk. Victor leads Lily into the house and holds the door to Helena's office open for her. Helena stands up and offers her hand for a handshake.

HELENA: Hello! It's Lily Trevelyan, right? Welcome to the Washington, DC chantry! What would you like to do first? I mean obviously there's Administration Station but maybe the juice bar first? Ooh, or the reagant locker. I'm just going to give you a tour.

LILY: You guys have any coffee or tea? Or better yet, somewhere to lie down? I just flew in from Heathrow and I can barely stand up.

HELENA: Of course, we have twenty-four different tea varietals and Victor is trying to breed a new one right now, aren't you, Victor?

Victor nods. Helena comes around the desk to offer a handshake again.

HELENA: I also love tea. Who doesn't? Victor, go make us one of every kind, she might not know what she likes yet. I'm Helena Taylor, and I'm the Regent here at the chantry so you can come to me if you have any problems or questions, and also I'm your Primogen so that goes double for when you're out in public. Of course you can sit down.

She gestures to a chair, then grabs Lily's hand and tugs her toward it.

HELENA: Oh, don't tease me, we can all lie down when we're dead. See, that's a joke, because we're totally dead already. Thumbs up, Victor.

Victor gives her a thumbs up. Helena reaches for the binder on her desk and drops it into Lily's lap. The front of the binder reads Tremerely Terrific: The Washington, DC Chantry.

HELENA: Okay, so that's your starter literature, you can knock that out tonight or maybe tomorrow night, but it's just the basics so I'll have another one for you by then. Didn't you want to sit down? Sit.

Helena returns to her chair and sits down.

LILY: ...That's a lot of reading.

HELENA: Oh, don't worry about it, I believe in you.

LILY: I only just arrived a few hours ago, Helena, and yes, I'd love tea! Am I the only... only... student here, or will there be others?

HELENA: Oh, we have plenty of neonates here, everyone is one big family! Most of the younger ones like you work on administrative functions and help keep our chantry house nice and welcoming, and of course you get to go out and meet the people! They're very important, the people. That's how you really get things done around here. You make sure you know what the people want, and then you tell them what they actually want and it all goes great from there.

LILY: What's a... Primogen? Can I get somewhere to sleep?

HELENA: Oh, honey, no, I thought someone told you, you don't sleep at night anymore. I mean, you could try, but you'd just lie down and then stare at the ceiling and then get right back up, it doesn't work anymore. You'll have to wait for daytime!

She turns and rifles through a filing cabinet, then takes another leather binder out of it. Its cover reads Vampire? More like WOWpire.

HELENA: Here we go, first things first, how to be a vampire! All the primer materials are here, so start with those, then go on to the chantry responsibilities. In the meantime, awake at night and asleep during the day, don't eat anything solid or you'll throw up, make sure you stay well-hydrated with blood because you'll freak out and start attacking people if you don't, and stay away from open flame, which means don't go into the basement right now, I haven't checked on the ancilla for a little while and there's a chance they may have accidentally started a raging magical fire they cannot hope to contain.

Helena pauses and uses the Thaumaturgy Discipline to check on the ancillae.

HELENA: Oh, yes. The Primogen is the head of a clan in the city. This is our clan, Clan Tremere, the best clan of all, welcome from everyone, and I'm your Primogen, so you can always come to me with problems. Every other clan has a Primogen, too, so if any of them have problems with one of us, they'll come tell me about it. Of course, I know that won't be a problem for you.

LILY: Goddamn it, that's...a lot of stuff I can't do. Not used to being dead yet.

She yawns.

HELENA: I find that you get used to all kinds of things very quickly as soon as you organize them in a meaningful way and then make constant demands on your time until you learn them via continual exposure and osmosis.

LILY: I don't even know my sire; is that normal? He's probably back in London Embracing all sorts of people or something; he's got a lot of childer, he said. I mean, I only remember him saying that vaguely 'cause I was pretty sick afterward, but he said here was the best place for me.

HELENA: Well, we'll have to fill you in on your lineage later, important to know in case of issues of primogeniture and all that, but probably you were just picked up by a recruiting expert. We do like to bring in only the best!

LILY: Do we get coffins?

Helena laughs.

HELENA: No, no, beds, Lily. We have beds. Yours is upstairs, I'll send Victor up to show you after we have tea, where is that tea?

She uses Thaumaturgy to discover that the tea is still brewing.

HELENA: So in the meantime do you have any questions or should I just go ahead and give you your assignments now and then you'll be all set to begin as soon as you finish your reading?

LILY: Do you need any help around here, Helena? And is there a library or anything? I brought a lot of books and was wondering where I could put them.

HELENA: Oh, of course, there are three libraries, but keep those in your room, that's probably for the best. We don't want to give Gideon a fright if he stumbles across them somewhere in his curation. You'll go to all the libraries! But not right away because some of them might kill you. All right, then, onward.

Victor arrives with a tray full of tea and a tray-table, which he sets up.

HELENA: Oh, there it is, hooray, tea! Try some, try some, go.

Helena takes a cup of tea.

LILY: Am I the only one here?

HELENA: Oh, of course not, dear, there are plenty of us here, but you know we never run out of work, do we? Downstairs is the Responsible Ritual Room, a few are in there working on their lure right now, and of course I have people out schmoozing with the local dignitaries, we can never have enough of that. And of course there's the embassy in town, if you ever want to see the higher-up administration, but I usually wait until we have gloriously succeeded at something and can present it to them on a large screen.

Victor begins to leave the room but stops as Helena waves at him.

HELENA: Victor, Victor, Lily here needs to see her room, and of course everything else, don't go anywhere.

Lily takes a cup of tea.

LILY: It's like... I don't know, Downton Abbey or something around here. I mean, I wasn't expecting it to be as posh as it is... Wow...

HELENA: Oh my gosh, I wish! The clothes would be so much fun! "Very impractical for rituals, though, so flammable and smearable. Well, of course we take care of you here in Clan Tremere, we're not Brujah or something.

Lily gets up and follows Victor out of the study. Helena puts a pen behind her ear and takes a Blackberry phone with her before following, chugging her tea.

LILY: Are you going up, Helena? I... I don't know Victor very well. Oh, and, uh... your library kills people?

HELENA: Oh, heavens, Victor's a ghoul, you can of course trust him. He's the most trustworthy, aren't you Victor?

Victor nods.

HELENA: Victor once ate an entire box of spell reagants because they'd expired and he didn't want to put anyone out.

Helena's Thaumaturgy wards warn her that there has been an accident in the basement. She makes a note on her wrist with the pen.

HELENA: Well, of course, all libraries kill people, they are libraries after all. There are levels, dear, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up with verve and determination. You don't send a rookie swimmer in against Michael Phelps. Because they might drown and then they would absolutely lose the race.

The three climb the stairs and arrive at a bedroom.

HELENA: Here, just lay things wherever you like, now what else do you need to know? Because if you don't know you can't nap during the evening, I feel like there must be at least... four other things you don't know.

LILY: I'm not used to this whole vampire thing yet, Helena.

Lily throws her bag onto the bed.

LILY: It's weird to get in a fight with your mum and run out of the house and then some guy on the tube suddenly makes you sick for three days. Oh, and suddenly I could understand cats. Weren't you a neonate once? I guess I'm just a wee little baby vampire.

HELENA: Drink your tea, dear, that always helps. Of course you are, but like all precious baby things, you will blossom into a competent administrator. That's what the binders are for.

She checks her email via Thaumaturgy and discovers a message from Edward Walker.

HELENA: So, I'll give you thirty to look at those, and if you need anything, come down and find me, all right? Oh, and if you see Kevin, just run the other direction and barricade your room, you'll be fine. Victor, go tell Kevin he can handle the lure situation in the basement, I think they just lit the ceiling on fire.

Victor nods and leaves.

HELENA:So let me know if you have any questions about any of that, and tomorrow we'll get to the really fun stuff!

Lily waits for Helena to leave, then begins unpacking her bag.

LILY: "Drink your tea, dear." What am I, five? Jesus...

She stops and finishes her tea. She runs her tongue along her upper teeth to feel her fangs. She gets up and goes to the door.

LILY: Helena! Are there... Can I... I'm sorry, but my fangs hurt.

Kevin is standing outside the door when Lily sticks her head out.

KEVIN: Hello. I can help you with that.

LILY: I-I-I-I'm not Helena. You have to be looking for Helena, no one ever wants to help me and... and... well, attractive men just don't show up asking to help. I mean, I'll take your assistance very, very...happily if you'll offer it. Um, yes. Please. It's stupid, really, it's just the fangs and... and... and...

She stares at the floor.

KEVIN: Of course it is. They're brand new, and don't we all remember what it was like to be brand-new? All those new things to find out about. All those new experiences. How wonderful for you.

He puts his hands up to her face and peers into her mouth.

KEVIN: Here, now, just relax. We all have nights where we don't know up from down... or inside from outside.

He slides a finger into Lily's mouth and taps the roof of her mouth. Lily's fangs retract into her gums. Kevin takes his finger back out of her mouth.

KEVIN: We keep them on the inside when we're not using them. No reason to waste mouth space.

LILY: Oh, t-t-thank you. Didn't know that. Did I bite you by mistake at all? I-I-I'm sorry, that was stupid too, wasn't it? You tasted good, Mr. ...uh... You know. Like woodsmoke from a bonfire.

Kevin tuts at her.

KEVIN: Of course not, silly. Why, if you'd bitten me, then we'd both be in a lot of trouble, wouldn't we? Luckily, no one has done anything against the rules. Helena does love her rules, doesn't she? We wouldn't want to upset her.

He laughs.

LILY: Well, I'm sure you have much more interesting ways of spending your night than getting to know me... unless... that is... unless you'd like to.

KEVIN: That sounds wonderful. But you know what they say: work before play, and then work some more instead of playing, too.

He wiggles a hand at her.

KEVIN: It's not actually woodsmoke, it's downstairssmoke. And if downstairs burned up, well... our Regent would probably even stop smiling. But don't worry, silly goose. We all live together now. One big, happy family. I'm sure we'll work on many projects together and put our names in many, many color-coordinated binders.

LILY: I would love that! I still have to learn the ropes, get used to the place, get to know everyone... Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not special or anything, I...

Kevin giggles.

KEVIN: Of course you are. We're all special. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here, now isn't that so?

He waves at her and turns to go.

KEVIN:Well, you know how it is, if we don't work, what is the point of our existence? I'm sure you'll meet everyone and everyone will just be so welcoming and glad to see you. I'm sure I'll see you around.

LILY: Right. Yeah. Later.

Kevin goes downstairs. After a moment, Lily calls down from her room.

LILY: Can I talk to you for a minute, Helena? I mean, if you're busy I won't interrupt.

Helena jogs up the stairs with one file hanging from her mouth, another in her hand, and Victor following her with a silver platter covered in teacups and post-it notes.

HELENA: Wow, done already?

She drops the folder in her mouth and it lands on top of the one in her hand. She paper-clips them together.

HELENA: You are fantastic. Did you need something else to start on?

LILY: I... actually haven't started yet. My teeth were hurting and a very kind person came along and fixed them for me. You didn't mention a m-man lived here, too. I didn't get his name, but he was very sympathetic... Is he a friend of yours or something?

Helena peers at Lily's mouth.

HELENA: Oh, weird. Normally any tooth decay would immediately be arrested at the time of death, so you shouldn't have any pain or anything. Let me know if I need to have one of the biomancers look.

She takes a teacup from Victor's tray and drinks from it.

HELENA: Oh, that's in the second binder, under the chapter marked Perfect Personnel, you must not have gotten to it yet. We all live here, Lily, this is Clan Tremere's home base. Let's see, it could have been Hans, wait, no, I sent him to the national archives an hour ago, he'll be in there all night. Can't have been the Pontifex, you'd probably have fainted, I usually do. Oh, was it James? He's my kid. Well, you know, in the vampire sense, obviously. Not the sense of actual childbirth. Or goats.

LILY: Oh, it... might have been one of them. He smelled like smoke, said he'd just come from downstairs... or... something. If you could tell me where he might be, y-you could introduce us properly. I feel bad not knowing his name and... well... he scared me, just at first. I'm sure he's perfectly charming, he definitely-- I don't think I've met... what was his name... Kevin, yeah! I should meet him, shouldn't I?

HELENA: Oh, no, you don't want to meet Kevin.

She starts looking through her files.

HELENA: He's a terrible person and should be fired. Oh, look, the Toreador are having a meet and greet tomorrow night!

She pulls a flyer out of the stack.

HELENA: We could go and you could make new friends and directly re-establish how much better it is that you're here instead of there!

LILY: Are you sure that's a good idea? They might not like me, you know; Mum had to force me to go to things like this when I was a kid. I-I-I'm sorry, I... It's a lot to take in... Well, as long as it's tomorrow night, I suppose I'll go.

HELENA: Of course they'll like you, it's actually their job to like things. Besides, this is not about them, it's about you, and you'll have to meet the other clans some time! Just trying to describe them to you is only half the battle.

She looks over Lily's shoulder at the binder on the bed.

HELENA: Not that you shouldn't read the chapter about them of course, you should, I wrote it myself.

LILY: Why wouldn't I want to meet Kevin? Isn't he one of us?

HELENA: Because he's the worst, Lily dear.

Helena begins to walk down the hallway. Lily follows.

LILY: The worst? Then why is he here? Can't you tell him to piss off?

Helena makes a face.

HELENA: I know this is all very new to you, but there are a lot of rules about who is stationed where, and they all have to do with making us a better, more efficient, and more effective chantry in order to support the ruling clan interests. Which is obviously the most important factor in all this and we should never question it. You'll learn all about it in the binder. There's an entire section about transfers, on-site retention, and of course Regent recommendations, so make sure you don't skip it!

LILY: But what makes him bad? You don't have to hide anything from me, Helena, I'm twenty-six! Well, I was.

HELENA: Basically everything, just everything. Don't worry about it, hopefully he'll accidentally walk into the ritual room downstairs at the wrong moment at some point and then the world will be a better place. You've just had all that lovely tea, we don't want you to lose any of it.

She removes her headphones, which are playing a cover of Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics, and wraps them around her neck.

LILY: Headphones off means I'm serious. No one ever took me seriously before my embrace...

HELENA: Good, I'm glad you're being serious, we are all very serious here except when we're also having fun. In all seriousness: you need to read those binders, because they'll answer a lot of your questions and then you won't have to keep wondering and wandering.

Helena is notified via Thaumaturgy about a problem in the library.

HELENA: And also in all seriousness, don't worry about Kevin, I will make sure he doesn't bother you. I will build a chickenwire trench around your room if I have to. So good night, enjoy, tomorrow we'll talk all about what you're going to do next!

She leaves down the hallway. Lily sighs and returns to her room, where she unpacks a laptop, a Nintendo 3DS, and a PlayStation 4. She also puts away a few changes of clothing. She flashes back to speaking to her sire.

RALPH: No, no, stay on the sofa. Just add what you like to the online shopping cart and I'll ship it all to Helena. It should be there when you arrive in DC.

LILY: How are you paying for all this?

RALPH: Lily, now that you've changed your name and everything else it's better if you... don't ask. I already loaded the account with money; just... let me take care of it. Trust me.

LILY: I... I do.

The flashback ends and Lily plugs her phone into an iHome dock and flops down on the bed. She begins to read Helena's binder.

Trivia

• Lily consistently wears headphones because she suffers from hyperacusis, a condition that causes her to be easily overwhelmed and in pain when hearing loud or continuous noise.
  
  
• Both Helena and Lily are native to London.
  
  
• Helena's thaumaturgical warning network is the result of her extensive skills in Technomancy; her only rival in this branch of magic is the very similar Tremere Primogen of New York, Aisling Sturbridge.
  
  
• As Helena explains to Lily, vampires can feel fatigue but are incapable of sleeping during their normal nighttime hours.
  
  
• Although Lily has probably seen vampires sleep in coffins in pop culture, the idea dates back to ancient civilizations that considered vampires to live in their graves and crypts, emerging only to feed.
  
  
• Helena incorrectly guesses that Lily's sire was Anne St. Croix, who has a reputation for having a very large brood, but her actual sire is Ralph Norrington.
  
  
• Helena mentions "recruiting experts"; Clan Tremere operates with less autonomy than other clans, and many neonates are specifically sought out and Embraced for showing signs of magical talent by designated vampires who then pass them on to be trained by others.
  
  
• Lily mentions her favorite book being Mary Shelley's The Last Man; this was the first work of apocalyptic or dystopian fiction and was published in 1826 by the same author who wrote the more famous Frankenstein.
  
  
• Lily says that the chantry house reminds her of the television show Downton Abbey; later, Ian Kross and Maeve Glaistig will frequently watch this show, as Ian actually used to visit the manor house in it when he was alive.
  
  
• Helena mentions "the lure" and "the lure situation" repeatedly; she is referring to the Thaumaturgy path Lure of Flames, which allows the manipulation of fire but is especially difficult and dangerous for vampires to use.
  
  
• Kevin has the Beacon of the Unholy, Eerie Presence, and Taint of Corruption flaws, making him intensely uncomfortable for anyone else to be around and explaining Lily's immediately frazzled reaction to meeting him.
  
  
• Kevin putting a finger in Lily's mouth is likely a bid to cause her to accidentally become bloodbound to him, although this fails when she does not bite him.
  
  
• Lily recalls a quote but cannot remember who said it; since she is misquoting it and there is no quote with that exact phrase, it is impossible to tell who she means.
  
  
• The Toreador party Helena refers to is chronicled in Assemble the Players.
  
  
• Although Lily notes in passing that the song playing in her headphones is a cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams", she does not say by whom.