Open Reading Scene Summary

Scene Summary: Open Reading

Open Reading
Chronicle	DC Chronicle
Game Date	December 4, 2015
Real Date	April 6-9, 2016
Characters	Casper Iversson Cassandra Jonas Lund
Locations	West Potomac Park
Previous Scene	When in Doubt, Drink (Casper) A Midwinter Night's Tale (Cassandra) The Old Boys' Club (Jonas)
Next Scene	Shaken, Not Stirred (Casper) In Want Of (Cassandra) Can't Stop Here, This Is Bat Country (Jonas)
Content Warnings	Ableism
Original Scene	Open Reading

Open Reading is a scene from the DC Chronicle featuring Casper Iversson and Cassandra, with a minor appearance by Jonas Lund. It depicts Cassandra holding a psychic reading for Casper.

Scene Summary

Jonas drives Casper to West Potomac Park as Casper broods over his recent nightmares and wonders if Cassandra might be able to help. He instructs Jonas to wait for him and walks into the park, where Cassandra is in the distance sitting at a small table in a gazebo, secure in the knowledge that she is sure someone will arrive soon. After watching her for a little while, Casper approaches, nervous because of his sire Ivar Ragnarsson's stories about magicians and seers, but tries to reassure himself that his sire believes in a lot of things that aren't real and greets her. Cassandra is pleased and says she knew that he would come, and invites him to sit with her at the table as she uses Auspex to read his aura, which she believes shows that he is doomed.

Casper sits, uncomfortable in the small space, and asks Cassandra what she mentioned wanting to discuss at Chas Voyager's recent party. Cassandra replies that he is the only person who can tell her what he wants to talk about, and encourages him to ask for something to make the reading work. Casper is worried about politics but decides to trust her, and asks if it is possible for a vampire to be a good man. Cassandra is surprised and points out that this is a philosophical question, and offers several possible answers without choosing any of them. She then asks if he came to discuss philosophy and he admits that he did not, frustrated that he cannot articulate his questions.

After some struggle, Casper explains that he has had dreams about monsters and disasters since his Embrace and wants to know what they mean, mentioning a recent dream in which he urgently tried to give himself a message but could not remember it on waking. Cassandra tells him that dreams are where everyone sees the future occasionally and asks what he will give her in order to find out more. Casper asks what people normally give her, but she is offended and tells him that she won't help if he doesn't put in some effort of his own. Guessing that he doesn't know what to do, she suggests he follow his homeland's customs, and Casper recalls his sire giving a visiting seer gifts. He offers Cassandra a silver cigarette case once owned by his father, containing a picture of his mother, which she accepts, praising him for choosing something closely connected to himself to help her efforts.

Cassandra closes her eyes and begins to give her reading, claiming that she sees Casper's dreams and the teeth of some terrible monster. Casper watches, terrified, as Cassandra describes a great beast and violence, then says that she sees him doing something terrible. Casper asks her whose blood she sees on his hands, and Cassandra replies that it is the blod of a frightened woman before collapsing. She recovers as Casper asks her if she's all right and offers to help her get home, but she tells him that she is fine and asks if he has any other questions, noting that he was interesting to read. Frightened, Casper says that he has none and hurries back to his car.

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.

Open Reading Script Summary

Jonas drives a car with Casper in the back seat toward the park. He gets out and pulls his coat tightly closed.

CASPER: Parkera här, jag kommer tillbaka om lite.

Jonas nods and Casper walks into the park. He approaches a gazebo, where Cassandra is sitting at a small table. Casper pauses for several minutes to observe her, then walks to the gazebo. He stops at the bottom of the steps.

CASPER: Miss Cassandra. Its good to see you again.

Cassandra beckons and Casper climbs the stairs. He bows to Cassandra and then sits at the table. Cassandra uses the Auspex discipline to read Casper's aura.

CASSANDRA: I knew you would come. Come, sit, Casper. Tell me what you would like to know.

CASPER: When we first met at Mr. Voyager's affair, you had mentioned there was something very important we had to discuss. What, if I may ask exactly is what we needed to discuss?

CASSANDRA: Why, Mr. Iversson, darling, that's for you to tell me, isn't it? Come. Tell Cassandra what you're looking for.

CASPER: Can a Kindred ever truly be a good man?

CASSANDRA: That sounds like philosophy, something you could ask any Kindred you encountered. Some would say yes, that your conscience has survived with whatever else it is that still lives and walks at night. Some others would say no, that the fact that you have to take life from others to continue to survive prevents you from coexisting with goodness. And then, of course, still others would ask you the counter-question: is one of the Kindred a man at all? Did you come here for philosophy, Casper?

CASPER: I suppose not.

He growls.

CASPER: Ever since I was Embraced... maybe before, it's hard to remember that far back in perfect clarity. I have had some thing, a presence, haunts my dreams. It's not constant, but in comes frequently enough to be more than a bad night of drinking. The dream came again the other night, I saw myself trapped in the ice, trying to speak to me, to tell me something. In the dream I always know, but by the time I wake I have forgotten... I am looking for answers. The words I forget.

Cassandra nods.

CASSANDRA: Ahhhh. Dreams are very powerful, Casper. They tell us things, things that we are too deaf to hear during our waking hours. It is in dreams that we all see through the mists of what is to come... just for a moment. But that's why you're here, because you needed someone who can see for more than a moment. What will you give me, to peek beyond the veil for you, hmm?

CASPER: Well Miss Cassandra, I must admit I have never had a reading and am new to your country so I am afraid I don't know the standard custom.

CASSANDRA: I can tell.

CASPER: I wouldn't dare to give you anything that was not up to you standards. You must excuse me for asking, what is it one usually gives you in exchange for such a rare opportunity?

Cassandra pulls her shawl around her shoulders.

CASSANDRA: But a reading is not a one-way street. That's not how it works.

She shakes her head.

CASSANDRA: If you aren't willing to put in any effort, Casper, then I can't help you. You do know the customs where you're from...?

CASPER: Back home, when one would meet a seer, I have seen an effect of great meaning been offered...

He reaches into his breast pocket and takes out a silver cigarette case.

CASPER: ...I don't smoke...but my father did.

He puts the cigarette case on the table and hesitates before letting go of it. Cassandra takes the case and opens it to reveal a photograph of a woman.

CASSANDRA: Oh, yes. Your mother. What a lovely woman.

She closes the cigarette case and puts it back on the table.

CASSANDRA: This is good. Something that is connected to you, that always helps. And it's connected to your past, which is the path to your future.

She flattens her hands on the table and spreads her fingers. She leans back in her chair and tips her head back. When she opens her eyes, they have rolled back into her head.

CASSANDRA: I see your shadow, the you of your dream world, the spirit world, and behind it... I see something dark.

She whimpers.

CASSANDRA: I see... teeth. Sharp teeth. Long... dirty. A wolf? No... no, something larger.

There is a long pause.

CASSANDRA: What's that? I don't... I don't understand. I see... great turmoil, great violence. Something terrible happening to you. No... something terrible that you are doing. I see blood on your hands.

Casper whispers.

CASPER: What is happening Cassandra... Whose blood is it?

CASSANDRA: It's... it's a woman, and she's frightened—

She suddenly pulls her hands from the table and her eyes return to normal. She shivers and crosses her arms. She puts her hands over the cigarette case.

CASSANDRA: Well... well. After that, I think I should have charged more.

CASPER: I — I am sorry Miss Cassandra... Are you alright? Perhaps I shouldn't have asked...

He stands and offers Cassandra a hand.

CASSANDRA: Oh, I'm perfectly all right.

CASPER: If you're not feeling well, maybe we should make sure you get home safe?

Cassandra shakes her head.

CASSANDRA: Oh, don't worry about me, dear. It does take it out of me, of course, but...

She pulls her shawl around herself.

CASSANDRA: Well, that's quite usual. Although that was... Well, a bit... surprising. Now, now. I won't keep you, but you've been a very interesting subject. Did you have any questions about... anything, Casper, dear? You'll have to tell me, I don't always... hear everything I say. The spirits work in their own mysterious ways.

Casper shakes his head.

CASPER: No Miss Cassandra, I thank you very much. I think it might be best if I go, but we should meet again... when I have had time to think this all over.

He leaves the gazebo and walks toward the parked car in the distance.

Translations

Trivia

• The war Cassandra refers to is World War I, which had recently ended around the time of her Embrace; the memorial gazebo in which she is seated refers to the same war.
  
  
• Casper thinks of Cassandra as a völva; in the ancient Norse religion, which Casper's entire House follows, a völva was a female seer who used spells and wands to predict the future, among other things. The word "völva" means "staff bearer", referring to a seer's staff or wand.
  
  
• Casper compares himself to Adonis, an ancient Greek mortal primarily famous for being so beautiful that the goddess of love, Aphrodite, fell in love with him. Adonis was later killed by Ares, the god of war and Aphrodite's lover. In addition to presaging later events in Casper's personal life, the story is often considered to have shared roots with the Norse myth of the death of the beautiful god Baldr, with whom Casper is often compared by members of the House of Ivar.
  
  
• The party thrown by Chas Voyager that Casper mentions was seen in A Midwinter Night's Tale.
  
  
• Casper's unnamed parents are Hanna Lindholm and Werner Lindholm.
  
  
• As with most of Cassandra's prophecies, she believes that she is putting on a performance but is actually giving an accurate prediction; her visions here are later borne out in the events of Fire Has No Brother.
  
  
• The woman in Cassandra's vision is never revealed, but is presumably Maeve Glaistig.